The Association of Argentina’s State Lotteries (ALEA) has expressed their anger at the Argentinian government for planning to increase federal gambling taxes from 2% to 5% of stakes.
The federal gambling tax increase was announced by Martín Guzmán, the minister for the economy in Argentina. The decision was made to financially bolster the country in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Facilitating the growth of illegal gambling
However, the declaration was met with outrage, particularly from the ALEA. In an official statement, ALEA argued that “any tax on official gambling at a national level favors the expansion of illegal gambling, by increasing the tax pressure on the regulated sector.”
Where legal casinos abide by the law, pay taxes and employ over 240,000 individuals in Argentina, clandestine gambling operators do not contribute to the economy, provide money to criminals in the black market and prey on vulnerable people during these difficult times.
Impacting the country’s local economies
ALEA also expressed their concern about what the federal gambling tax increase would do to honest casino operators in local communities. With people’s livelihoods already on the line because of the novel coronavirus, this could potentially devastate them.
The association further expanded upon their point, stating that the new regulation “directly affects the local economies since it reduces the income that the provinces and the City of Buenos Aires obtain from gambling through regulatory entities, in their respective jurisdictions. It also decreases the funds allocated to social entities.”
With all this contention flying around the tax increase, casino operators in Argentina now eagerly await the government’s response to their complaints.
