The Macau Metro Monitor, April 17, 2013
CASINO WINNINGS TAX-FREE FOR 20 YEARS: MINISTRIES Taipei Times
There will be no tax imposed on casino winnings for the first 20 years following the establishment of casinos in Taiwan, Minister Yang said. Yang, in charge of drafting a bill stipulating regulations for the operation of casinos, said that the bill was expected to be approved by the Cabinet by the end of this month and referred to the legislature for deliberation.
The government is required to draft the legislation by the tenets contained in the Offshore Islands Development Act. Independent Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng has been applying pressure on the issue since the passage of a referendum to allow a casino to be built in Matsu, his constituency, in July last year.
At an inter-governmental agency meeting, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) finally gave its consent to the tax exemption after the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) insisted it was necessary.
A Cabinet official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that an idea is being floated among officials to allow casinos to be built within the planned “Free Economic Pilot Zones,” a project to test incremental economic and trade liberalization. Gambling on Taiwan proper is prohibited by the Criminal Code, but the Offshore Islands Development Act exempt the outlying islands from this ban.
NUMBER OF GAMING TABLES AND SLOT MACHINES IN 2008-2013 DICJ
Table and slot count at the end of Q1 2013 was 5,749 and 16,406, respectively.