RACING TAXATION

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 71, 24 March 1926, Page 7

RACING TAXATION

THE CONTROVERSY IN ENGLAND.

There has been a good deal of discussion lately in England concerning the practicability or otherwise of taxing betting. As racecourse' betting and racing- in New Zealand is heavily taxed in every way, the following from an English exchange, may be of some interest. I'.i_ many respects the arguments may be applied as.well to New Zealand as to'England. Racing, and its concomitant parts, already contribute enormous sums annually to the revenue. The racecourse dividends we taxed. Profits' made by sporting newspapers are taxed. The entertainment tax of 12% per cent. ha3 to be paid on ring fees by all who 'ko to racecourse's. _To enter Tattersal Is enclosure this tax is 2s 6d a head. One r.-.ciconree eseeutn'O, according to "Hotspur," ff lha "Daily Telegraph,"■ contributes £V),OGO a yea!I,to the .revcmic from the entertainment tax mono. Breeders, trainers, bookmakers, 'and sporting writers nil havi; to pay im-oiuc-tax, and some biTtdors and trainers pay super'tax'in-addition. The sums paid 10 tiio Oovm-nment at present for the use of telephones, teiigrams, and posing':; in repaid to . bettini; run into over a million a'year. • Railways make hundreds of tboiij-aiicls of pounds out of conveying pas^oi)<jei'S and horses to race meeting:, and'rr.jl'.vay'dividends contribute huge sums in hiotpic tax.: . ' . . Last year .there were 4030 horses in training. One stnblnman. is usually employed to look after two horses. Thus over 2000 stable lads are found eaiploy-

ment in training stables, in addition to veterinary surgeons, blacksmiths, saddlers, and numerous other people. '.'.■■ Then there is the great industry which is dependent: upon racing—the thorough-bred-breeding industry. Tins is one of the very few industries in which England is at present supreme. Stallions, brood mares, foals, -and year: lings up and down the country number thousands. These necessitate the employment of several-thousand people to look after them. The' farmers of- this country provide nearly all> the forage which is used in our racing stables, and ; it can easily be seen how, agriculture, which is now in a bad way, is benefited. , A tax on racecourse betting would have the effect of. reducing attendances. The value of the prizes would be less, owners would gradually drop out, and the capital invested in breeding would assume microscopic proportions. The big prices given for blood-stock would, in consequence .disappear. .. , "■■■,-.■"