The subject of gambling has been a polarizing one for as long as the practice has been around. Some are all for it while others think it should be banned. Despite the latter, governments around the world have taken a kinder view in recent times.
There are still a lot of places where gambling remains illegal but that should cease to be the case pretty soon as folks have realized how legalized gambling is a great positive for the economy.
Given that gambling still going to happen, whether it’s illegal or not, there’s logic in legalizing and allowing it to impact a country’s economy on a favorable note.
Casino affiliate programs have also come to the fore in recent times. A casino affiliate works with an online casino and gets paid a commission for everyone who visits the platform or deposits through a unique affiliate link.
This is, of course, a form of employment, which contributes to economic growth as well.
Where legalized gambling is concerned, regulations are necessary to protect gamblers. Regulated bookies avenues and casinos are pretty easy to find. That the most popular platforms are regulated also forces others into getting regulated as they want to attract customers they otherwise wouldn’t get to sign up.
People who criticize gambling usually say that economic development research doesn’t sufficiently rate its social costs. According to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, the evaluation of the economic impact of gambling is incomplete and developed poorly. The Commission also states that gambling expanding costs must be put into consideration in any evaluation of the gambling’s net profit. This kind of analysis has caused many problems than solutions because the Commission says that the gambling social costs are way too ill-defined for the company to reach its conclusions.
Poor life choices are associated to excessive gambling. Behavior linked with this kind of gambling includes neglect, family abuse, homelessness, divorce and suicide. On the other hand, behavior linked to gambling addiction includes indulging in illegal businesses to get gambling money, low grades, truancy and drug and alcohol abuse.
One of the ways casinos help move the economy along is through taxes. Taxes collected therein are pretty large and it wouldn’t be beyond a government to legalize gambling simply to collect revenue from casinos. They’re great cash cows in that regard.
As seasoned gamblers are well aware, the house doesn’t lose. Casinos are immensely profitable and rake in huge sums with every opening. There are plenty of countries that see a very significant boost in their economies from casinos paying tax on their gross gaming revenue or GGR.
Taxes and GGR would vary from country to country – it’s a percentage of the net profit. GGR can reach as high as 83.5 percent in countries like France. Macau, considered to be the gambling Mecca of the world, records around 39 percent while the United Kingdom is at 50 percent.
4/ The name of this industry is MICE — “Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Entertainment.”
And yet gambling is where the real money lies — it often contributes around 40% of the revenue.
This revenue is called GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue), and is taxed different from others. pic.twitter.com/5bKSX3JLSt
— Aman Y. Agarwal (@mngrwl) July 12, 2021
Governments are faced with a bit of a conundrum when setting tax rates for casinos as they don’t want it to be too high so new businesses aren’t scared off but still want to make as much profit as possible. On that note, Russia doesn’t tax casinos at all, which is pretty strange.
That could be because of the large number of jobs casinos provide. New businesses always mean new jobs, perfect for the economy, right?
Apart from the tax benefits and employment gains, gambling is also a major tourism attraction. Locations such as Las Vegas and aforementioned Macau attract millions of outsiders on a yearly basis because of the services they have to offer on that front. Of course, things have been very different as of late. The COVID-19 pandemic forced casinos to shut their doors last year but they’ve been reopening all over, with life now bearing a semblance of normalcy in the wake of vaccines being developed.
Casinos typically attract the richest folks from around the world. Such people could be found enjoying heavy gambling weekends in places like Vegas on a pretty regular basis but they aren’t the only ones who contribute as such locations also welcome party-goers, vacationing families, and wedding parties.
Other places have started taking advantage of the tourism revenue. The likes of Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines have gotten in on the game.
The casinos aren’t the only venues benefitting from traveler visits. Other businesses in the area, such as restaurants and bars, get to share the wealth. Many casinos have restaurants and serve drinks so that’s not always the case, but there’s always the opportunity to earn a slice of the pie.
