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The New Zealand government recently opened a public consultation on online gambling and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has voiced its opinion and advised New Zealand to adopt a licensing model that will permit both foreign and domestic operators to get licenses for various gambling products.
The IBIA points to the success of this iGaming model in countries like the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Spain.
The IBIA also warned about putting too much pressure on the gambling industry by charging high license fees and imposing a high tax rate.
In a statement, the IBIA said
It is also important that, as with the countries employing a licensing system listed above, any licence fees are proportionate and wholly based on the necessary administrative costs of proper market regulation. Licensing fees should not be used as a revenue raising tool, and in effect an additional means of taxation, which would deter operators from seeking a licence.
The IBIA also gets into detail on how New Zealand can be more welcoming to the gambling industry by adopting a more liberal taxation system. It feels that systems based on gross gaming revenue are better for the industry rather than turnover-based taxes.
Wide Variety of Products
Besides giving its feedback on how to properly tax and license the potential iGaming industry in New Zealand, the IBIA suggests that the NZ government should permit a large range of betting products. Variety is important when it comes to legalised online sports betting and the more events and bet types available, the easier it becomes to grow and expand iGaming.
The IBIA thinks that it is better for legal sports betting in the long run to have few restrictions since it would allow potential bettors to bet at legalised sportsbooks instead of going to unregulated offshore operators.
The association points to the UK Gambling Commission as very successful regulator in controlling its sports betting market with very little restrictions. The IBIA believes that New Zealand will do well to follow the UK’s lead when it comes to gambling regulation.
New Zealand launched a public consultation process which ended on Sep 30. This process was designed to collect feedback from Kiwis via its open consultation process which is why the IBIA has chipped in with its suggestions. The public consultation can help guide the government on what steps to take to better regulate the industry.
