Australia and Off Shore Bookmakers

Gustov Johansson from Sweden doesn’t mind a bet. He reckons that Norrköping are a sure thing against Helsingborg in the Sweedish Allsvenskan soccer league. So he decides to make a $100 bet at Crownbet, an Australian owned and located company. Unfortunately, his bet wasn’t successful and he losses the $100 after Helsingborg went on a goal kicking rampage. “Jävla” says Gustov.

But what exactly happens to that money? Crownbet pocket the $100 and then over the long term will pay the Australian government part of it through taxes. How much do Crownbet give to the Sweedish governement?

Zero

Despite it being sweedish money that was bet, the transaction occured in Australia, so Sweeden get didily-squat, and poor Gustov is $100 poorer for the effort.

So why then are the Australian government thinking about banning international bookmakers who dont pay tax? If Australian bookmakers dont pay tax on winnings to international governments, then why should international bookmakers pay tax to Australian governments?

I thought the liberal, current Austarlian governemnt were all about free trade and open borders? Because as most liberals will say, free trade encourages growth and competition.

That is 100% true. Punters are turning to international bookmakers because they can provide a better service than the Australian bookmakers. When Tabcorp say that ”Unlicensed offshore operators are not regulated to Australian standards and that poses risks to consumers and the integrity of sport and racing”, what they really mean is ”we want to stop Australians betting overseas because they are competition”.

Yes thats right, Australian bookmakers want international bookmakers banned because they encourage growth and competition. Greater competition means that the Australian bookmakers will have to tighten their screws. Australian bookmakers are against free trade and want closed borders. The liberal government should be strongly against this.

And as punters, we should also be strongly against the ban of international bookmakers. We want free trade, competition and growth. The ability for us to spend our money however we see fit, and not be told by the government what cornershops we can and can’t buy from, should be high on our agendas.

Imagine if the government told us that we can’t buy anything from ebay that came from China because they dont pay Australian tax. There would be outrage. So outraged us punters should be if any restrictions on international bookmakers occur.