South Africa Gambling Laws
After years of debate, word is finally out that the local online casino in South Africa gambling market will be regulated in a matter of a couple of months. The regulations state that 10 licenses will be granted to operate an online casino in SA. Tight regulations on financial transactions can also be expected. All players are required to have a dedicated account with an SA bank which can be financed by credit card only. R20,000 is the permitted maximum balance and accounts and banks will be closely monitored by authorized government officials.
An Interactive Gaming Tax Bill was recently proposed by Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel. The Bill enforces a 6% tax on gross gambling revenue of online casino operators. Estimates show that the taxes from local online gambling markets alone add up to R400 Million. The enforcement of this gambling law on the online gambling industry in South Africa is to ensure complete national regulation of online gambling and ensures the protection of local customers. By taking such strong regulatory processes into its own hand, the South African government states that it will be able to have better control over internet gambling in the country. The enforcement of a ban on internet gambling would only lead to creation of an unregulated black market like in the US.
Although the Internet Gambling Tax Bill rakes in a substantial amount of money into the Government’s pocket the reality is that the South African operator is at a huge loss compared to other global operating online gambling companies. These foreign organizations are set up such that they play close to no taxes and therefore have enough money to spend on marketing and player retention campaigns. Also the hassle of opening a dedicated South African account can be another reason for gamblers to shy away from local online gambling sites. When there are several other online casinos that have better offers on South African online casino games and perhaps even better services, it would take a search on Google before players move on to other online casinos. The gambling account fund limit also proves a problem. There could be chances of players winning more than R20,000. In such cases the cap on the account leaves South Africans with several questions.
The new Bill has its own pros and cons and perhaps only time will tell how efficiently and effectively it will run and keep a tab on the internet gambling industry in South Africa.