Betting tax clears one hurdle

The Council of Ministers has approved the bill on reforming the bet tax with a view to voting it through the House before parliament closes for the May parliamentary electionsand before the football World Cup in June in Germany.

Deputy government Spokesman, Christodoulos Pashiardis, said that the law aims to improve existing legislation and and to regulate telephone betting.

The bill was supposed to be approved in 2003, but since then it has been going and coming between the Finance Ministry, the Attorney General’s office and the Legal Services Department, with most of the blame seen on the Finance Ministry.

The government has lost significant revenue because of illegal betting houses and the attraction of casinos in northern Cyprus.

Under the bill, punters will no longer pay a bet tax of 25% on fixed odds and 10% on horse betting. Instead there will be a uniform tax system covering three categories of betting which will tax companies at 15% on gross profits.