Lottery tax to rise with over 700%

The government wants to haul in an additional SRD 40 million from the lottery companies via taxes. The income had initially been projected at SRD 5.5 million. The Ministry of Finance announced that it aims at collecting SRD 45.5 million via direct taxes.

This is the only big change that has been made to the projected income for the 2018 budget. All other projections will remain the same. The Finance Ministry hopes to collect about SRD 1.6 billion in total in 2018 via direct taxes.

During the budget discussions legislators criticized the government for its policy on gambling and sports betting. Legislators from the coalition as well as the opposition asked questions regarding the mini gambling houses that have popped up in local businesses. These mini gambling houses are extremely popular amongst the nation’s youths. If it were up to MP Amzad Abdoel (NDP) and MP Krishna Mathoera (VHP) the government would close down the mini gambling houses permanently. MP Abdoel is in favor of closing down all of the nation’s casinos. But given the fact that this would be impracticable, the legislators would like the government to let these commercial activities fill the treasury. The indirect taxes will also be slightly changed. The Finance Ministry thinks that it can collect an additional SRD 7 million with the export of lumber.