A venue operator must meet minimum key requirements to ensure they are able to pay gaming tax in a timely manner at the end of each month.
These key requirements include:
- having a nominated gaming account for a venue’s gaming machine transactions, and
- ensuring you have processes to maintain sufficient funds in the nominated account to meet your monthly gaming tax obligation. This means surplus funds should be kept in the account and it must not be in overdraft.
Both the above requirements will ensure that you maintain and have sufficient funds to meet your monthly tax obligations at the conclusion of the month.
Venues can have multiple nominated gaming accounts (one for tax sweeps and one for cheques/large wins) but each account is bound by the following:
a) What can be transacted through your nominated account/s
- transactions such as, but not limited to, depositing of all gaming revenue, payment of large wins, accumulated credits or jackpot prizes.
b) What cannot be transacted through your nominate account/s
- transactions such as, but not limited to, the payment of monitoring or maintenance fees, third party service providers, lease payments or payments to other government bodies.
Mordialloc Sporting Club was recently fined $10,000 (suspended) for failing to pay gaming taxes, noting it also failed to meet the above key requirements.
To ensure this doesn’t happen to you:
• Read the Accounting and Auditing Venue Requirements to remind yourself of the minimum banking requirements
• Read section 3.7.3 (1) of the Act for more detailed information