TAXING THE TURF.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 271, 13 November 1909, Page 9

TAXING THE TURF.

RACING CLUBS' CONTRIBUTION. (By T«tegra.pli.—Parliamentary Sepbrter.) WELUXGTON, this day. Ia his survey of bhe landscape in th* quest of revenue, the Premier announced a proposal to raise £38,000 'by levying a tax of 2* per cent on -the "total receipts of racing ciubs." ' But the reference to total receipts is so vague that some of tha racing authorities prefer to reserve their opinions till more specific plans ar& put tief-ore them. The estimate of £38,000 leads some critics to. believe that desire of the Government is merely to substitute 2i per cent for the present! 1£ per cent tax on the gross ..receipts from the totalisator. This reading of Sit J. Ward's words", is supported, by the fact that 2j .per cent of the gross totalisa'tor receipts (iome £.1,500,000 went through the machine last year) <would produce something approaching £38,000. It is also thought that the clubs will 'be required to deliver up a percentage of the bookmakers' feee, -which now escape deduction 'by the Government. The one disconcerting feature on the horizon is that the Premier's idea is to raise extra revenue. The H percent tax has ranked as ordinary income on the same Ibasis as other ordinary receipts from taxation. If the £35,000 is to be additional, ac it seems, it will imean that the clubs will have their contribution to the States exchequer trebled the increase will be from about £20.000 to a/bout £60,000. If total takings of all kinds are contemplated by the Government they will, of course, include receipts from gates, nominations, acceptances, privileges, and so on. On siich a basis a club such as the Wellington Racing Club might have to give the State £5000 a year, on a turnover equal to last year's. There would be about 200 clubs to furnish the money required by the Government, including eighty-three which are permitted to use the totalisator. Those which are denied the privilege of the machine are email organisations, whoso, r-eceipts are not staggering eums. The larger clu'hs have the prospect of contributing the bulk of the money, and their representatives "will thave sonio remonstrance tn make if the 2A per cent tax i≤ imposed on ail r-eceipts. It ia submitted that the larger ciubs have invested much capital in property for the proper conduct oi the sport, and ivill be embarrassed by the additional taxation unless allowed to deduct more than ten per cent from the sums invested on the 'totalisator. The argument is that if the public are to continue to get tho class of racing poromoted by the presentotakee they must pay more for it if the Government insists on getting a. larger ■proportion of the clubs' revenue. It is understood that the hookmakers' champions are preparing to fight hard against the abolitionists. One of the lines of defence is -tha.t the licensed bookmaker experiment has not received a fair trial. One of the bookmakers' defenders remarked to-day that the chair-man-of the Racing Conference rejected the overtures of a committee which desired to assist the clubs to discriminate in the licensing of bookmakers, so that only men of good repute and financial standing would foe allowed to c<..&r fr.r business on the courses. He heJi that Commissioner Dinnie's remarks aibtut the calibre of certain individuals licensed as bookmakers wo-uld not ha , c been made if the clubs had troubled to seek information about the character of applicants for licenses. A case en these lines had been prepared for the "profession," and something of it would be heard when the Gaming Act came up for revision. This speaker intimated that during the pas-t twelve months bookmakers' license fees amounted to "a quarter of a million pounds," a statement which, will hardly bear analysis. Reckoning race days, registered and unregistered, including trots, a-t five hundred for the year, the £250,000 wcrks t out at £500 per meeting, and it would require twenty-live bookmakers at the full fee of £-20 to furnish that amount. The metropolitan oliibs barely average .£SOO a day from bookmakers' payments. It is fairly certain that whatever change may be tnade in the Government's rate of taxation on the totalisator the clubs will be required to pay over a proportion of the money received from th-e hookmakers.