TOTALISATOR TAX

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18649, 19 August 1930, Page 5

TOTALISATOR TAX

EFFECT ON RACING. WELLINGTON. August 16. The following memorandum has been sent to Members of Parliament by the New Zealand Sports Protection League:— “The following facts may be helpful to you when you consider the proposed increase in the totalisator tax: Before 1910 the total tax was 9 per cent. It was increased in 1910 to 10 per cent., and in 1915 to 125 per cent., and again in 1921 to 15 per cent. It is now proposed to make a further tax of 2 h per cent., making a total of 17* per cent. “The limit at which taxation can be imposed without diminishing the returns was reached in 1915, with a total of 15 per cent. Investments immediately fell from 20 to 27 per cent., and have been declining ever since, and the decreasing returns now being experienced by both the metropolitan bodies in Christchurch, racing and trotting alike, illustrate the ruinous results of excessive taxation under the stress of bad times. Last season the racing clubs collected less revenue from the totalisator for the State than they did in the season preceding the increase in taxation. The small increase in the State revenue has accrued largely from the twenty-one extra days granted to trotting clubs. “The effect on the clubs has been even more serious. On the plea that taxation is imposed on the public and not on the clubs, the clubs’ share of the totalisator tax has remained stationary at 7 per cent. As a result of the diminishing returns the revenue received by the racing and trotting clubs from the totalisator has decreased by over £200,000 a year. In consequence there has been an all-round reduction in stakes, course improvements and public facilities, and many clubs are struggling for existence. “Reasonable deductions to make are that the increased tax will, in the long run, produce little, if any additional revenue for the State, that it will seriously harass the clubs, who are gratuitous tax collectors for the State, that it will provide a bonus of 2£ per cent, to those engaged in a business already sufficiently lucrative for them to take the risk of defying the law, that the best method to curtail illegal betting and to maintain the State revenue is for the Government to pass the Gambling Amendment Bill now before Parliament.