PartyGaming Pays Its Online Gambling Tax

from the roundabout dept

Online gambling company PartyGaming has agreed to pay the US government $105 million as part of a "non-prosecution agreement" to wrap up the government's investigation of the site. The move comes after the company's founder, Anurag Dikshit, paid $300 million in online gambling taxes a settlement to the US government last year, meaning it's now collected about $750 million or more in "settlements" with foreign gambling companies and their executives. The government has shown little interest in prosecuting anybody, underlining the belief that it's really just taxing these companies in a very roundabout way. If it's going to do that, it remains that legalizing online gambling so it can be regulated and taxed would be a better solution.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: fines, online gambling


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Todd., 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:11am

    Anurag Dikshit?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Marc, 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:19am

    Pronounced 'Deek'sheet'

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Marc, 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:22am

    (smile)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:27am

    Online Gambling Tax

    Is it just me, or does this sound like "protection" money?

    "Nice, business, it'd be a shame if somethin' should happen to it."

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    mike42 (profile), 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:49am

    But...

    You can't legalize online gambling! What about the children!
    (Well, someone had to say it!)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:53am

    Re:

    Yeah, it can be amusing at times... I have a colleague whose name is Phani, pronounced "funny"

    You don't want to know what "Laura" means in Hindi...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    james, 8 Apr 2009 @ 6:55am

    Re: But...

    In a regulated & taxed system the kiddies are well more protected than in a illegal system with no regulator to cry to...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2009 @ 9:00am

    Yeah, because we know the regulators of banks and wall street firms are so good, right?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Apr 2009 @ 9:53am

    Re: Re:

    Yeah. He was represented by his lawyers, Mike Hock and Amanda Huggenkiss.

    Something tells me Bart Simpson provided the names in this case.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Weird Harold, 8 Apr 2009 @ 1:25pm

    I use to work with a guy who's name was Maboob. I am sure harold sounds just as funny in his native tongue.

    Anyway, reading the story tells the full truth, that effectively all Party Gaming is trying to do is remove the potential for US action against the company, so as to remove potential liability and make the company more stable for it's investors. They have pretty much paid to buy peace.

    I would say that it also makes it more likely that Mr Dikshit could travel to the US with less chance of getting arrested on arrival. This would be rather important if the company is going to push to get the US laws changed to make their company "legal".

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Wilhelm Busch, 9 Apr 2009 @ 12:37am

    WoW

    My word if he can pay sums like those above the online poker business must be booooming to say the least, no credit crunch there.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Robert, 15 Apr 2009 @ 9:10pm

    WTO

    This is just crazy! Maybe between the WTO and the economic melt down in the US we can get these stupid laws changed

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Casino Junkie, 3 Jul 2009 @ 1:10am

    im a believer on this

    Casinos are pretty beneficial. It helps to elevate the drowning condition of one state because of the bigger taxes generated out from it. It also generate employment on the people.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Gian Barrett, 15 Dec 2009 @ 4:05pm

    Revenue maker

    I agree with casino junkie. Online casinos generate revenues for the state. I can't understand why they are always trying to cease it's existence. A lot of people are creating their account at casinos like Gamblux gambling and other sites so I don't think people don't want it to be legalized.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Soccer Merchandise, 17 Jun 2010 @ 6:09am

    Wow! This sounds new information that I really want to learn. Thanks for letting me know! Soccer Gear

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    newest jordan shoes, 9 Nov 2010 @ 12:17am

    newest jordan shoes

    Thanks a lot for the informative and interesting publication first of all. Actually I was looking for this information for a long time and finally have noticed this your entry.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.