Revenue from gambling tax has fallen $500 million short of official estimates for the past financial year amid a slump in betting on horse races, officials said yesterday.
The Government collected about $13 billion in gambling tax during 2000-01 - four per cent less than the estimate. The amount made up 13 per cent of total tax revenue.
The shortfall from the Jockey Club comes amid rising concerns over competition from illegal bookmakers and off-shore betting.
Introducing this year's individual tax return form to be issued today, Lau Mak Yee-ming, the Acting Commissioner of Inland Revenue, said the discrepancy was the result of fewer bets laid on horse racing. It follows claims by the Jockey Club that illegal and Internet betting had taken a heavy toll on its revenue.
Earlier this year, the club's chief, Lawrence Wong Chi-kwong, claimed up to $50 billion a year was being lost to illegal bookmakers and he pressed the Government to take action.
Meanwhile, revenue from salaries and profits tax outstripped the estimates by $2.6 billion, to total $69 billion.
