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Mexico – Mexican Gaming Association criticises new tax in Nuevo León
By Phil - 10 January 2017
The Mexican Gaming Association (AIEJA) has reiterated its disagreement with the new taxes which will be imposed on the gaming industry later this year.
The AIEJA says that the new taxes are unfair as other businesses in the entertainment sector do not pay such a high rate of tax and that the new law does not include online gaming, lotteries or illegal gambling machines which are widespread in the state.
“The members of the association reiterate our interest in dialogue and our fair and equitable cooperation with Nuevo León,” the organisation said in a statement.
The Association also criticised the state Congress for not implementing an austerity plan nor reducing its budget of $200m after the the state government was affected by a reduction in federal budget expenditures. According to the AIEJA the new tax will have an impact on the 5,000 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect jobs generated by the industry. There are currently 21 gaming establishments operating in the state. In addition the new tax could lead to a rise in illegal gambling as has already occurred in the state of Mérida where there are already an estimated 30,000 unlicensed slot machines.
President of the AIEJA Miguel Angel Ochoa revealed last month that the new ten per cent tax on gaming establishments could lead to a higher crime rate in the state as it could lead to job losses. This, he said, was particularly significant with the election of Donald Trump as a good many of those Mexicans who are deported from the United States could return to Nuevo León. Once the new tax goes into effect he said that as many as 10,00 people could lose their jobs. The new tax he said would only serve “to make the crisis worse.”
The new tax is part of this year’s tax reform bill. Local officials hope that the new tax could raise up to one billion pesos in a year, with a 30 per cent going to the fund for a special security fund and the rest to the state coffers in order to reduce the deficit.
