Tabcorp welcomes Queensland tax reform after settling three-year dispute

By Ralph Trayfalgar, Updated: MAY 10, 2023

Betting firm Tabcorp has welcomed the new tax reforms enacted by Racing Queensland after reaching a settlement to its three-year-long legal battle.

The disagreement between Racing Queensland and Tabcorp was around costs following the introduction of a consumption tax point in 2018. Now, Queensland has implemented a number of modifications to the tax regulations, which Tabcorp praised. According to the company's statement, the new regulations constitute a "much needed" tax reform for real money betting, that is also equitable.

Tabcorp will be required to pay Queensland AU$150 million ($108.3 million) as a result of the reforms. However, the state's racing sector would get a significant boost in the form of a new financing model.

Cameron Dick, who serves as both the treasurer and the minister for trade and investment, offered some commentary on the newly implemented tax model and stated that it now accounts for the considerable changes that have taken place in the horse racing business.

Queensland is home to over 125 racing clubs, and that a race meeting serves as a "opportunity for individuals to gather together" for many of these groups. Dick added that the government has now come around to recognizing this, and that as a result of the adjustments that have been made, these racing clubs will "thrive into the future."

More than 43,000 Queensland locals are employed in the racing sector, according to racing minister Grace Grace. This figure does not take into account the 675,000 spectators who attend the races. These figures do not include those who are employed to cover these racing events overseas, at betting sites such as Bet365 and Betway Sports. Grace went on to remark that the sector can look forward to a more certain future as a result of the improvements.

The tax reforms have been praised by Adam Rytenskild, the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Tabcorp, who remarked that they "put Queensland first."

According to Steve Wilson AM, the chairman of Racing Queensland, the racing business has seen significant development over the previous couple of years. The Queensland betting tax will have an additional fee of 5 percent imposed on it as a result of the amendments that have been made. In addition, the percentage of the betting tax money that goes to the racing business would be boosted to 80 percent, up from the current 35 percent.