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Duty system for horse race betting to be reformed
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The Government today (April
7) announced proposals to reform the duty system for horse race
betting.
Explaining details at a media standup
session, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, said the
primary objectives of the reforms were to rationalise the regulatory
system for horse race betting, and to combat the increasingly rampant
illegal gambling on horse races, while maintaining betting duty
revenue at a steady level.
In other words, it was intended as
a means of tackling an existing problem, Dr Ho said.
"Illegal gambling is invariably
associated with other illegal activities such as loan sharking and
debt collection. It is also one of the major sources of funding
for organised and serious criminal activities," Dr Ho said.
He said the Government's policy on
gambling was to restrict gambling opportunities to only a limited
number of authorised and regulated outlets.
"The underlying rationale
is not to encourage gambling. Our proposal to reform the duty system
for horse race betting is in line with this policy."
He was confident that the reforms
could help combat illegal horse race betting. The major reform proposals
are:
* Betting duty will no longer be charged
on the turnover of betting. Instead, a single set of rates will
progressively apply to gross profits - with duty at 72.5% up to
$11 billion, increasing by half a percentage point for every $1
billion up to $15 billion, and at 75% for the amount exceeding $15
billion.
* Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) would
guarantee that the duty payable to the Government during each of
the three years after implementation would be no less than $8 billion.
A review would be conducted two years after implementation.
* HKJC would be allowed to provide
rebates to high-value bettors who lose money, in order to increase
its competitiveness against illegal bookmakers.
More importantly, the regulatory
regime of horse race betting would be rationalised to bring it broadly
in line with legal football betting and lotteries:
* To put in place a licensing system
for horse race betting;
* To expand the functions of the existing
Football Betting and Lotteries Commission to include advising the
Secretary for Home Affairs (SHA) on the regulation of the conduct
of horse race betting; and
* To provide that SHA could issue
Codes of Practice as and when appropriate to prescribe detailed
guidelines on particular aspects of the licensing conditions.
"The reform is not to
encourage gambling in Hong Kong. We would include in the horse race
betting licence for HKJC the mandatory conditions to prevent underage/excessive
gambling, and minimise the negative impact of authorised horse race
betting," Dr Ho said.
He said HKJC was prohibited from
taking bets from under-age persons and offering any credit for betting,
and from paying dividends or rebates on bets to juveniles. HKJC
is also required to restrict related promotional activities and
take appropriate measures to prevent pathological gambling.
"Our proposals seek to
strike a balance between the need to combat illegal horse race betting
effectively, and the need to address public concerns about the negative
social impact of gambling," Dr Ho said.
The Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill
2006 will be introduced into the Legislative Council on April 26.
Ends/Friday, April 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:01
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