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Argentina – Argentinian racetrack association demands end to tax

By - 10 November 2017

The Association of Racetrack and Betting Agency Personnel (APHARA) have expressed their frustration that they have not been able to obtain an audience with the head of The Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos (IPLyC) Matías Lanusse.

The Secretary General of the Union Diego Quiroga said in a statement that he had requested a meeting on several occasions with Lanusse with the purpose of eliminating the 10 per cent tax that customers pay while placing bets on horse betting agencies in the province.

Quiroga said that the request in question is stipulated in article 13 of Horse Racing Regulations for the Province of Buenos Aires, which was passed in 2004. The law gives the executive branch the right to eradicate the additional tax on horse race betting made for races carried out in La Plata and the San Isidro racetrack. The elimination of the new tax would generate increased revenues as it would become more appealing to players and would provide a relief for the racetracks, said the APHARA. Extra funds should also be allocated to the tracks from the provincial gaming fund. This was justified he said as the two tracks were denied permission by the 2004 law to house slot machines on the premises meaning that the racetrack located in capital Buenos Aires, which houses slot machines, has an unfair advantage.

The statement went onto say that the traditional horse agencies are responsible for 40 per cent of the amount bet on races held on racecourses and as such are a significant employer. Consequently, the tax on bets could lead to further job losses in the sector as well as an increase in illegal gaming.
According to the statement, when The Provincial Horse Racing Law was first sanctioned it took into account the advantage that bingo and slot parlours in the province of Buenos Aires would have and it sought to repair the damage caused by the effects that other types of gaming would have on horse racing in the province. “The spirit of the law is also, aimed at maintaining and encouraging an industry that is based on intensive and specialised labour, with 350,000 jobs and no machines,” Quiroga said.

“We appeal to the Government for the protection of our jobs and our sources of employment; we currently depend on a subsidy that comes from a provincial law, whose funds are achieved via a Bingo Law. Racetracks could comfortably have their own slots, obtain their own resources and the $800m pesos that they receive (from the government) monthly. So the San Isidro and La Plata subsidy could be used for social purposes, which is so needed in the province of Buenos Aires.”

Quiroga concluded by saying that the APHARA expected a prompt response from the authorities.

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