Will this be Lebanon’s first online casino?
News on 8 Sep 2017
News on 8 Sep 2017
Local media reports from Lebanon indicate that the new chairman of land gambling company Casino du Liban, Roland Khoury, is keen to boost company revenues by pioneering the first online casino in the country, subject to government approval.
“Yes. One of my plans is to launch an online gambling site in Lebanon,” Khoury told reporters from the Daily Star newspaper Thursday. “We have exclusivity in this domain and the government is aware of it. We hope to launch this site before the end of this year.”
Khoury’s remarks came in an interview in which he outlined his plans for resuscitating the ailing gambling company, including cutting losses incurred from the government’s taxation hike from 40 percent to 50 percent. He said the government harvests around $70 to $80 million in tax revenues from Casino du Liban every year, depending on the level of its business.
“The 50 percent tax on the gross revenues was attached to a 2008 condition that Casino du Liban has exclusivity to manage gambling in Lebanon. But in reality the exclusivity has not been respected because there are over 600 licensed gambling shops in Lebanon with special emphasis on poker and slot machines,” Khoury claimed, revealing that the company has filed litigation.
Khoury suggests that the solution to the problem is to either respect Casino du Liban’s exclusivity by closing the gambling shops, or for the government to adjust Casino du Liban’s tax rate to that of the gambling centres.
The Finance Ministry collects one million Lebanese pounds ($660) for every slot machine per year from gambling centres while Casino du Liban pays 50 percent tax on the revenues from its slot machines, he pointed out.
“If the government wants to treat us like the gambling centres then Casino du Liban should pay only $400,000 taxes each year. We are now paying $40 million in taxes on the revenues generated from the slot machines,” Khoury said, adding that it may be in government’s interest to reduce his company’s tax rate, because that would enable more investment in attracting international gamblers, thus boosting business.
The Casino du Liban chairman has other concerns about his rivals, asking which government authority is monitoring their behaviour and compliance with consumer protection and responsible gambling requirements.
Casino du Liban generates gross revenue of $150 million annually, but the heavy taxation has pushed it into an expected $5 million loss this year; the company has a salary bill of $80 million due to a bloated staff complement of 1,400, which Khoury wants to thin out. His wide ranging renegotiation and restructuring plan will enable the company to make annual profits of $30 million, he claims.
