Isn't There An Easier Way To Tax Online Gambling?

from the roundabout dept

One of the founders of British online gambling site PartyGaming yesterday pleaded guilty to a charge of transmitting bets across state lines -- and agreed to pay the US government $300 million. The exec, Anurag Dikshit, wasn't one of those nabbed by US authorities as they changed planes in the US, but rather he came forward on his own in an attempt to clear the legal air surrounding him and his company. It appears that the US government has rewarded him with leniency: he's free on $15 million bond with some loose travel restrictions ahead of his sentencing -- scheduled for December 2010. This latest news follows the guilty plea of an executive of NETeller, which processed payments for gambling sites, who forfeited $100 million to the government, while the company itself coughed up $136 million. So from these three instances alone, the government has taxed, er, fined, gaming sites and execs over half a billion dollars. If revenue generation is the goal, why not simply legalize online gambling, then regulate and tax it? That way, the government gets its slice, while US citizens can enjoy some protection while betting, instead of being forced into the grey market where they're largely at the whim of site owners.
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Filed Under: anurag dikshit, online gambling
Companies: partygaming


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  • identicon
    AWESOME!!, 17 Dec 2008 @ 11:58am

    Anurag Dikshit

    BEST NAME EVER.

    EVER.

    PLEASE TELL ME THAT'S his REAL NAME.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Vikrant Bhargava, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:46pm

      Re: Anurag Dikshit

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anurag_Dikshit

      That name is awesome (not it Junior High) but otherwise...

      I think he should change it to Anurag "Monster" Dikshit and pay a license fee to Monster Cable because they have been "Dikshits" for years and the name Dikshit is synonymous with their company and its products!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2008 @ 2:58pm

      Re: Anurag Dikshit

      On a rag?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:00pm

    Ok.. somebody has to say it...

    Dikshit??

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Ima Fish, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:02pm

    "That way, the government gets its slice..."

    Because the government sees no reason to settle for a mere slice when it can get the whole pie.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John D (profile), 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:17pm

      Re: the whole pie.

      But it's not getting the whole pie. It's getting a dinky little slice that it has to spend a whole lot of time/money/manpower getting.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rambo, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:14pm

    What's the name again?!

    I had to pause for a moment and reflect on this exec's name. LOL

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    astontechno, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:50pm

    tax a bet when you place a bet

    every transactional keystroke is taxed...
    every time you hit a key to initiate a bet it is taxed
    you say that right up front
    everyone will know and the taxman gets it

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    JJ, 17 Dec 2008 @ 12:51pm

    When you're that rich...

    Wikipedia: "Anurag Dikshit ... is a billionaire Indian businessman, the richest man in Gibraltar and the 207th richest man in the world."

    If I were that rich, I wouldn't give a dikshit what my name was either.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rosetta Stoned, 17 Dec 2008 @ 2:37pm

    Anurag Dikshit is four years younger than me, and he's a multi-billionaire. I'm not.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mark, 17 Dec 2008 @ 3:16pm

    300 Million to this guy is like a penny to most folks. He just did the equivilent of throwing his shoe and yelling dog to the US Gov't for their ridiculous stance about Online gambling.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mark Regan, 17 Dec 2008 @ 7:14pm

    That Might Set a Precedent

    If we legalize gambling then we'd take organized criminals out of the mix. Then pro football and basketball would be fair.

    Then we'd have to legalize drugs next to get organized criminals out of that industry. Then who would kill 5000 Mexican Mules annually, along with an equal number of US overdoses which kill OUR citizens.

    Next our country Sheriff (I live in a DRY country) would have to put his campaign contributors out of business so they would not compete with LEGAL beer and wine sales in the retail stores. It's better to have the evil alcohol sold out of living rooms and garages instead of restaurants, right?

    And what about prostitution? Legalizing gambling would create a precedent for legalizing purchased sex. Then all the drug addicted hookers would lose customers to good looking housewives competing for the same business out of their living rooms.

    We LOVE organized criminals running our gambling industry, our sporting contests, our recreational drug marketplace, our underground "untaxed" alcohol business, our sex traders, and let us not forget our elected officials who cater to the organized criminals who BUY them with their campaign contributions.

    We are happy in our complacency. Please do not disturb us with such complicated, unromantic "tax" issues. That's what we hire our legislators for.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2008 @ 4:52am

    I've worked for a number of online gambling companies in Europe and they are already regulated - according to the Countries in which they are based.

    This includes a company I worked with in Gibraltar which uses a system of law very closely derived from English law - http://www.gibraltar.gov.uk/bus/laws.asp

    These companies are lawful, audited and in some cases listed on stock exchanges which add additonal levels of regulation.

    PartyGaming are already compliant with these local laws yet are still able to operate legally and ethically in other non-EU countries so why should they also have to comply with tax-hungry US laws when they have no physical base there?

    Techdirt surely doesn't pay tax to Gibraltar so why should a Gibraltar based company pay tax to America?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    casinodad, 21 Dec 2008 @ 6:16am

    Big money

    revenue is generats the goals, we should legalize online gambling and Las Vegas slots, The government will increase their budget with that money

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    koyali, 15 Feb 2009 @ 8:52pm

    gambling

    hi this is Koyali and i will provide information about gambling so this is useful for so many people.Sportsbook-watch provide in-depth reviews and recommendations of the top gambling sites on the web. Sportsbook-watch review sportsbooks, poker websites and casino websites.
    ==================
    koyali

    gambling websites

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    derf, 30 Jan 2010 @ 1:39am

    gambling money

    in oklahoma much of the money I gamble is not reported . only 2,500 at a time!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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