The Executive Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), hoping to combat rampant illegal gambling on horse races while maintaining stable revenue from betting, approved in Hong Kong on Friday proposals to reform horse race betting's duty system.

 

The Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2006 will be presented to the Legislative Council on April 26 for final approval before going into effect.

 

According to the proposals, a single set of rates will progressively apply to gross profits with duty at 72.5 percent up to 11 billion HK dollars (US$142 million), increasing by half a percentage point for every 1 billion HK dollars up to 15 billion HK dollars, and at 75 percent for the amount exceeding 15 billion HK dollars.

 

If the proposals were finally legalized, the betting duty will no longer be charged on betting turnover with the introduction of a single set of rates.

 

The Hong Kong Jockey Club will guarantee not less than 8 billion HK dollars of duty payable to the HKSAR government during each of the three years after implementation.

 

A review will be conducted two years after implementation, according to the proposals.

 

The club will be allowed to provide rebates to high-value bettors who lose money, to increase its competitiveness against illegal bookmakers while the regulatory regime of horse race betting will also be rationalized to bring it broadly in line with legal football betting and lotteries.

 

Speaking to the press, Secretary for Home Affairs Dr Patrick Ho said the reforms aim not to encourage gambling in Hong Kong but just want to rationalize the regulatory system for horse-race betting, and combat rampant illegal gambling on horse races, while maintaining revenue from betting at a steady level.

 

Ho said the government's gambling policy is to restrict opportunities to a limited number of authorized and regulated outlets.

 

"The underlying rationale is not to encourage gambling," Ho said, adding the Hong Kong Jockey Club's horse race betting license will include mandatory conditions to prevent underage and excessive gambling, and minimize the negative impact of authorized horse race betting.

 

According to Ho, the club is prohibited from taking bets from minors and offering any credit for betting, and from paying dividends or rebates on bets to minors. It must restrict related promotional activities and take appropriate steps to prevent pathological gambling.

 

"Our proposals seek to strike a balance between the need to combat illegal horse race betting effectively, and the need to address public concerns about the negative social impact of gambling," Ho added.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2006)