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Cape Town - A bill that will tax gambling on the internet was released for public comment by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday. The bill provides for a special tax on "interactive gambling" which was earlier regulated in the National Gambling Amendment Bill approved by parliament in May this year.
According to a Treasury statement, the tax will be imposed on operators with an interactive gambling site in South Africa. The tax base will fall upon gross gambling revenue, that is the net inputs generated by an operator.
The initial National Gambling Act which this year's bill amended did not provide for legalised interactive gambling in South Africa. But the amendment bill allows for this form of gambling in South Africa in order to ensure regulatory oversight of interactive gambling, and to prevent it remaining in the hands of offshore jurisdictions, with little or no protection for local consumers.
The bill says that tax in respect of interactive gambling activities is to be imposed in terms of appropriate legislation. It has to be done separately because taxes are imposed by a special procedure under section 77 of the constitution.
The Interactive Gambling Tax Bill will be tabled in parliament during the first half of 2009 and comments can be sent before March 1 2009. The full text of the bill can be found on the Treasury's website.
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