Australian government eyes nationwide point of consumption tax
Treasurer Scott Morrison says government will examine proposals to introduce a uniform tax regime
The Australian government is considering the introduction of a nationwide point of consumption tax for online gambling operators, Treasurer Scott Morrison revealed today.
The Liberal Party politician told Australian news outlets that both state and territory treasurers had agreed in a meeting today [Friday] that they would soon discuss proposals for a uniform tax regime.
Federal Treasurer Morrison said the introduction of a harmonised tax regime could lead to both an increase in tax revenue and greater harm minimisation.
“We were able to agree… to move forward to prepare a proposal for a nationally consistent approach to [a] point of consumption tax on online gaming,” Morrison said.
“Now this is a very important issue both from a revenue perspective but frankly more important from a social perspective. And we all agreed that it was necessary to work on a nationally consistent approach.”
Morrison also said current legislation in South Australia, which announced a 15% point of consumption tax last year, was “a good starting place” for looking at a future nationwide model.
The now defunct Australian Wagering Council (AWC) had labelled the South Australia tax regime as “untenable in practice”.
Today’s announcement comes just days after the Australian Senate voted in favour of passing the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, which will close down remaining loopholes on in-play betting and online poker.
However, the legislation still needs to be approved by the House of Representatives, which one Australian gaming lawyer told EGR Intel this week was not a “foregone conclusion”.