Casino entry levies rake in $130m
Community to benefit from funds; taxes pull in another $420m
By Ng Kai Ling
THE entry of the two integrated resorts (IRs) has bumped up by $550 million the amount of fees and taxes the Government and Totalisator (Tote) Board have earned from gaming and related activities.
Between April and November last year, the two IRs collected $130 million in casino entry levies.
They paid another $420 million to the Government in betting taxes and goods and services tax (GST), Second Minister for Finance Lim Hwee Hua told Parliament yesterday.
The entry levy is what Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay to enter the casino, set at $100 a day or $2,000 for an annual pass.
The levies go to the Tote Board, which will pool the $130 million from the IRs with surpluses from its other revenue sources. It will use the money to benefit the community, through the Community Chest, Yellow Ribbon Project and other activities it supports.
The entry of the IRs - Resorts World Sentosa in February and Marina Bay Sands in April last year - has led to a restructuring of the gaming industry as a whole.
'Hence, while the IRs have brought in new revenues, collections from other gaming activities such as lotteries, horse and sports betting and fruit machines operated by clubs have fallen,' Mrs Lim said.
Latest figures from the Department of Statistics show that the Government collected $1.94 billion in betting taxes from January to November last year, about 12 per cent more than the amount collected for the whole of 2009, which was $1.73 billion.
Duty collected from clubs that operate fruit machines was $334.1 million in 2009. In the first 11 months of last year, the figure was $255.6 million.
The breakdown for collections from lotteries, and horse and sport betting, is not available.
Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) expressed concern at the gaming industry's strong showing and asked what could be done to 'protect Singapore from the ill-effects'.
Mrs Lim said the Government has put in place safeguards such as exclusion orders and entry levies.
When the decision to have casinos in Singapore was made, 'we planned for the best possible model', she said.
'And we stand ready to move with additional safeguards should there be clear evidence that there's an increase in gambling addiction,' she added.
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Community to benefit from funds; taxes pull in another $420m
By Ng Kai Ling
THE entry of the two integrated resorts (IRs) has bumped up by $550 million the amount of fees and taxes the Government and Totalisator (Tote) Board have earned from gaming and related activities.
Between April and November last year, the two IRs collected $130 million in casino entry levies.
They paid another $420 million to the Government in betting taxes and goods and services tax (GST), Second Minister for Finance Lim Hwee Hua told Parliament yesterday.
The entry levy is what Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay to enter the casino, set at $100 a day or $2,000 for an annual pass.
The levies go to the Tote Board, which will pool the $130 million from the IRs with surpluses from its other revenue sources. It will use the money to benefit the community, through the Community Chest, Yellow Ribbon Project and other activities it supports.
The entry of the IRs - Resorts World Sentosa in February and Marina Bay Sands in April last year - has led to a restructuring of the gaming industry as a whole.
'Hence, while the IRs have brought in new revenues, collections from other gaming activities such as lotteries, horse and sports betting and fruit machines operated by clubs have fallen,' Mrs Lim said.
Latest figures from the Department of Statistics show that the Government collected $1.94 billion in betting taxes from January to November last year, about 12 per cent more than the amount collected for the whole of 2009, which was $1.73 billion.
Duty collected from clubs that operate fruit machines was $334.1 million in 2009. In the first 11 months of last year, the figure was $255.6 million.
The breakdown for collections from lotteries, and horse and sport betting, is not available.
Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC) expressed concern at the gaming industry's strong showing and asked what could be done to 'protect Singapore from the ill-effects'.
Mrs Lim said the Government has put in place safeguards such as exclusion orders and entry levies.
When the decision to have casinos in Singapore was made, 'we planned for the best possible model', she said.
'And we stand ready to move with additional safeguards should there be clear evidence that there's an increase in gambling addiction,' she added.
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