Philippine Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the government is currently studying the imposition of stricter rules on the online gaming sector in the country.
The head of the Department of Finance said on Thursday that among the options being assessed were an additional 10-percent tax for the online gaming industry, as well as the possibility of a mandatory listing of those companies in the nation’s bourse.
“It might even be good if all the licences issued by [the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor)] to online gaming,” be linked to stock exchange listings, suggested the official. “That’s another thing that we’re looking at,” he was cited as saying by the Philippine Inquirer newspaper.
Mr Recto said the potential mandatory listing of online gaming operators on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) would aim to subject them to strict disclosure rules and to increase transparency in the sector.
“We can force them to list, so [that] we know who are the people behind it [those companies]. It becomes more transparent,” he added.
A growing chorus of voices in the Philippines has called for changes to the online gaming sector, ranging from tighter restrictions on access to digital gambling platforms, to additional taxes, and a ban on the use of e-wallets for gambling purposes. There have even been calls for a complete ban by a number of senators.
On Thursday, the Finance Secretary mentioned again the prospect of higher taxes for the sector.
“There are many ways of doing it. One is we leave it to Pagcor, because Pagcor, on its own, can increase the fees and charges it collects from online gaming,” he stated, according to the Philippine News Agency.
According to the official, the gaming regulator currently imposes a 30-percent fee on electronic gaming, while the Bureau of Internal Revenue collects an additional 5 percent.
“We may increase that even further. That’s one. We’re studying what that increase should be, but we need more regulation,” added Mr Recto.
Based on gross gaming revenue (GGR) produced by the online gaming industry, the finance chief said that increasing taxes by around 10 percent would allow the government to collect an additional PHP20 billion (US$349.5 million) per year.
Mr Recto acknowledged concerns that raising taxes could drive legal operators underground but called it a balancing act that the government was prepared to deal with.
Asked if a total ban on the online gaming sector was being considered, the Finance Secretary said this would likely not be a suitable solution. “If you ban it, everything will become illegal,” Mr Recto cautioned.
The Philippine leader, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, is said to be reviewing calls for a total ban on the online gambling sector in the country, according to remarks on Tuesday by undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office, Claire Castro.
On Thursday, Philippine-listed licensed online gaming operator DigiPlus Interactive Corp said proper regulation was the “path to player protection,” but urged lawmakers not to drive the sector underground and beyond the reach of regulation, by banning it.
