Singapore spent more than 6 billion Singapore dollars (US$3.4 billion) -- an average of S$1,500 (nearly US$900 per person) -- on lotteries, horse racing and other types of officially sanctioned gambling last year, a government report says.
Taxes on bets totaled more than 1.3 billion Singapore dollars last year, according to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore's latest annual report. Based on the duties, industry earnings totaled S$6 billion, a S$135 million (US$77 million) decline from the previous year.
Singapore taxes betting income at 25 percent, except for 12 percent for horse racing. The 4-Digit Numbers lottery game led the way with S$938 million (US$536 million) in duties paid, reflecting spending of about S$3.8 billion (US$2.2 billion), the report showed.
Soccer betting saw a huge leap as Singapore's decision to expand wagering on the sport to foreign matches coincided with Asia hosting the 2002 World Cup. Duties paid on football bets went from S$6 million (US$3.4 million) in 2001 to S$43 million (US$25 million) in 2002, the report showed.
Most of the bets were made on the World Cup matches in South Korea and Japan, according to Janet Low, a spokeswoman for Singapore Pools, a government-owned betting agency in the country of 4 million people.
Taken from www.gamblingmagazine.com
