Are casino winnings taxable in Singapore?
Playing at Singapore casinos if you are worried whether your winnings will be taxed then there is good news that no your winnings are not taxable. Your tax liability is only for income received in Singapore which means that you pay tax on income you receive locally. There is no capital gains tax in Singapore so casino winnings either locally or overseas are considered capital gains and not subject to taxation.
Also you do not need to declare the winnings and even if you do, it is unlikely that you will have to pay tax on them. If you do not declare the winnings, do ensure that you are keeping records of having won – just in case you are called to explain the sudden girth in your bank.account.
So who has to pay the tax?
Well it is the casinos who have to pay the tax. In Singapore, casinos operated by the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa have to pay the casino tax levied on the casinos’ gross gaming revenue. The Singapore casinos are regulated by Casino Regulatory Authority. Tax has effective rate of 12 to 22 percent of gaming revenues. Singapore has two tax rates: Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) generated from premium players is at 5% while GGR from all other players is taxed at 15%. A premium player is a person who maintains a deposit account with minimum amount of $100,000 S before he starts playing any game in the casino. There is also a 7% Goods and Services Tax on all gaming revenue.
How does casinos then pay tax?
Casino tax is computed monthly based on the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) from the games conducted in the casino. Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) = A – B
Where:
- A is the total amount of net wins received on all games conducted within the casino premises of the casino operator; and
- B is the Goods and Services Tax (GST) chargeable under GST Act (Cap. 117A) by the casino operator in respect of all gaming supplies made by the casino operator.
Gaming supplies refer to betting and gaming services offered or conducted by a casino operator.
Calculating the Net Win
For games where the casino operator is a party to the wager the net win is the difference between the amount of bets received by the casino operator on the game and the amount paid out by the casino operator as winnings on the game. Examples of games under this category are table games and gaming machines where the players play against the casino operator.
For games where the casino operator is not a party to the wager the net win is the amount determined by the total value of all consideration in money or money’s worth received by the casino operator for conducting the game. Examples of games under this category are tournaments and contests where the players compete among themselves for a prize and not against the casino operator.
Casino tax rates
- If a premium player opens a deposit account with the casino operator with a minimum amount of $100,000 the casino has to pay 5% of tax rate
- For other players opening account at the casino the casino has to pay 15% of tax rate.
Also there are betting taxes and sweepstake duties on private lottery, betting and sweepstake. Generally, the following betting activities are subject to duty in Singapore:
- Totalisator or pari-mutuel betting (e.g. Toto, horse racing)
- Sports betting (e.g. football betting)
- Sweepstakes
Any other system or method of cash or credit betting held, promoted, organised, administered or operated by an exempt organisation in the Betting and Sweepstake Duties Order.
Note that the winners are not taxed. Winnings from betting such as 4D, Toto, football, Singapore Sweep, horse racing, slot machines, fruit machine (jackpot) and casino winnings, etc. in Singapore are not taxable as they are windfalls and not of an income nature.
Casino operators are required to file a monthly casino tax return and pay the casino tax by the 15th of the following month. In the casino tax return, they should submit details of the Gross Gaming Revenue and casino tax for both premium and other players. For example, casino tax return and casino tax for Mar 2017 should be filed and paid to IRAS by 15 Apr 2017.
The concern in Singapore is that you do not become a facilitator in the illegal laundering of money. While there is relatively free movement of cash in and out of Singapore, the qualification on this is that so long as the monies can be traced back to a legitimate source, there will be no problems. Also you know that the house always wins. So in Singapore winnings at casino are not taxable and you can enjoy your wins as you like without any worry when you come out of the casino as a winner.
Are casino winnings taxable in Singapore?,