South Africa Continues Regulation of Online Casinos
South Africa has continued the process of incorporating online gambling with measures for complete and appropriate regulation of the industry. Last week, Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel publicised the impending Interactive Gaming Tax Bill.
The implementation of the measure would bring about taxing of the gross gambling revenue of online casino operators. In future, sites wanting to enter South Africa would be subjected to a ‘special tax.’ The setting up of such a tax was recommended by the National Gambling Amendment Bill. It was passed by the South African National Assembly in May and it provides for strong regulation of the online gambling industry.
The setting up of stringent regulations has helped the government to reinforce the current regulatory conditions and also furthered the process of protection of consumers and children. Many of the sites have to observe regulations set by agencies in the areas that they operate from. However, the South African rules have ensured that this process is thorough.
The government declared that strong supervision was the best option for the national gambling policy, as opposed to it remaining in the hands of offshore spheres that result in little or virtually no protection for local consumers. Taking charge of the regulatory process has enabled the government to have strong control of the Internet Casino Industry. This is in contrast to the ban in the US that leads to unregulated black market activity.
The proposed tax bill will be available for comments until March 1st. It is expected to go before the Assembly for a vote shortly after the period of review and input.
