FED: Kemp dodges on casino tax break

AAP General News (Australia)
04-29-1999
FED: Kemp dodges on casino tax break

CANBERRA, April 29 AAP - Assistant Treasurer Rod Kemp today refused to say whether casinos
would benefit from the government's decision to exempt high-roller gamblers from the GST, but
insisted it would not cost the government any revenue.

Melbourne's Crown Casino, which successfully argued for the tax break in a secret
submission, today said it would not benefit from the exemption.

Senator Kemp refused to endorse the casino's claim, but insisted the change was aimed only
at fixing an anomaly in the original tax legislation

"There is no revenue loss as a result of this, because (with) this change, the legislation
is now going to function as it was originally intended," he told the ABC's Seven Thirty
Report.

Senator Kemp refused repeated invitations to say whether casinos would save money as a
result of the tax break, and suggested that without the tax break, the government would have
breached its agreement with the states on the GST carve-up.

"All the GST legislation is paid to the states," he said.

"It is the states which apply the taxes.

"And so what we are doing is merely giving effect to what we went to the election on."

But Senator Kemp insisted he was not avoiding the question of whether casinos would benefit
from the tax break.

"I have answered it ...," he said.

"The revenue estimates that we have made from the legislation are not changed as a result
of this amendment."

AAP ss/cfm

KEYWORD: TAX CASINO KEMP

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