Pokie club investigations identify potential breaches of gaming regulations, in order to keep players safe. Recently, investigators have noticed an increase in breaches, which has resulted in an increase in fines for clubs who do not abide by local gaming laws. A report in the New Zealand Herald notes that half of all pokie inspections identify breaches.
These non-compliance issues can be as harmless as not keeping the correct records to incredibly dangerous issues like fraud. One of the DIA’s largest investigation was "Operation Chestnut", which found out that gaming trusts were misappropriating upwards of $30 million in gambling funds. Peter Dunne, Internal Affairs Minister, overseeing consultation on proposals.
The current plan proposes that clubs and pubs will see a 54% increase in their taxes. Due to the increase in illegal activity at pokie trusts, the Department of Internal Affairs is busier than ever. Gambling enforcement is funded by gaming operator revenue, so it is important that pokie taxes balance out. The cost of regulation greatly outweighs revenue from gambling fees. Last year, there was a huge $9 million difference.
As such, club and pub pokie fees must be increased in order to cover regulation costs. Another reason that there is a shortage of funds is due to the declining number of pokies in the country. From 2007, the number of poker machines in New Zealand dropped from 20,120 to 16,717; so, there is the need to compensate for the decrease in gaming revenue.
In addition to funding DIA investigations, the increase in taxes will also help to repay the deficit over time. This means that taxpayers will not be effected by the gaming breaches and the resultant tax hike.
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