Government goes easy on betting tax

Mumbai, Oct 8: The state government offered a Diwali bonanza to Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) yesterday by reducing Betting Tax from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. The state also freed RWITC of paying up an annual minimum betting tax guarantee of Rs 18 crore.

The state government had raised betting tax from five per cent to 20 per cent during the state budget this year, a move that drew tremendous flak from the racing community. Meanwhile, the government has increased the racing licence fee from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 2 crore for the first year and Rs 2.5 crore for the second.

FFCR promoter Ram Khanna said that the RWITC had come out of the red by admitting 400 new life members in the past three months. That was following a task force recommendation to admit 800 new members to help raise funds for a club house at the racecourse, Khanna said. The cost of the new club house is budgeted at Rs 35-40 crore.