Casinos in the Gauteng province of South Africa may face a surprise hike in gaming taxes, following the local government's decision to launch a review of the current regime.
As part of a wide-reaching review of the financial performance of the Gauteng provincial government, Finance Minister Mandla Nkomfe said the past three fiscal years had been "challenging" and there is now a need to improve revenue collection.
Gauteng presently places a nine per cent tax rate on casinos, which the provincial government states is the lowest casino tax in South Africa. Other provinces charge between 12 per cent and 15 per cent, with the Western Cape setting the highest rate of 17 per cent.
According to Nkomfe, Gauteng’s casino tax has not been reviewed for at least 13 years.
"Consequently, the GDF in collaboration with the Department of Economic Development has started a process that will lead to the review of casino tax rate in the province," he said.
South Africa’s casinos are already under threat of additional taxation at the national level, after Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced plans to introduce a 15 per cent withholding tax on gambling winnings over ZAR25,000 in his Budget speech in February.
The new tax is due to come into effect in April next year and has already been met with opposition from across the gambling industry.
