States and cities frustrated by gamblers spending their money elsewhere are putting casinos in or near major cities to maximize tax revenue. "We're sick of people from Wichita driving through our county on the way to casinos in Oklahoma," says Janis Hellard, economic development director in Sumner County, Kan., near Wichita. "We want some of the action." Her county is one of four places in Kansas recently authorized to have casinos, although none has been built yet.

The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has collected USD 1.74 billion in direct gaming taxes in the first half of the year, seeing a remarkable year-on-year rise of 49 percent. The statistics issued Friday by the Finance Services Bureau (FSB) showed that the gaming taxes accounted for 76.6 percent of the government total revenue in the period. Macao’s 26 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct tax to the government.

Mexico City (Reuters) - Mexican broadcaster Televisa, which has a growing betting business, said on Tuesday it is trying to convince the government that a planned 20 percent tax on gaming is too high and will hurt the industry. Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, last month presented a long-awaited fiscal reform plan, part of which would close off corporate tax loopholes.

The European Commission said last week that it’s taking Spain to court over its discriminatory taxes on lottery winnings from lotteries organized abroad. Currently Spain subjects lottery winnings from lotteries organized abroad to a progressive income tax, while locally accrued winnings are exempt from such taxes. This discriminatory taxation goes against E.U. law as it restricts the freedom to provide services, the commission said.

Spanish The Tax Agency is investigating the growing Internet betting business. A sector which in 2006 generated 413 million euros in Spain, a 65% more than the previous year, which put the country on the top of the European ranking on online gaming. The Finance Ministry controls the activity of these companies, considered illegal by the Law of General Budget of the State for 2007.

After several changes, the text was published in the bulletin and it came into effect Last Sunday July 1st. According to it, now lotteries, horse races, sporting bets, slots, bingos and casinos will be taxed. According to SENIAT (Integrated National Service of Customs and Tax Administration), the contribution that the tax would generate during the second semester would be USD 33,553, but it is estimated that from 2008 the contribution will be larger.

Bingo halls could close unless the tax burden on them is changed, it was claimed today. The industry pays more tax than bookmakers or casinos and Glasgow MSP Bob Doris, of the SNP, wants a level playing field. He has tabled a motion at Holyrood calling for VAT on bingo halls to be slashed or removed so the industry can compete.

SugarHouse Casino will pay Philadelphia more than USD 67 million over the next decade to partly offset the 10-year tax break granted all new construction, City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr. said yesterday. Instead of paying no property taxes at all for a decade, SugarHouse will pay between USD 5.6 and USD 7.4 million annually over an 11-year period.

Springfield, Illinois - Gov. Rod Blagojevich is looking to raise another USD 115 million in taxes and fees from riverboat casinos next year, a move that could have implications for gambling expansion measures in the Legislature. Outlined in the governor's budget proposal for fiscal year 2008, which begins July 1, is a plan to increase the state tax rate on casinos' gambling revenue, raising an estimated USD 55 million, and to institute a fee on casino license renewals, which would bring in an estimated USD 60 million next year.