Đonlagić: It is incomprehensible that the FBiH Finance Minister does not want more money in the budget

Head of the DF Club in the House of Representatives of the FBiH, Dženan Đonlagić, said it is incomprehensible that the Finance Minister of the FBiH is fighting against taxing those who win prizes in games of chance, NAP reports.

Đonlagić said that additional taxation of winnings from games of chance could bring up to 200 million KM annually into the FBiH treasury.

Betting shops are among the biggest wasters of money in the FBiH, which is already lacking in the joint budget. In the FBiH, winnings from games of chance exceeding 100 KM are currently taxed, while smaller winnings are not taxed. Experts warn that most winnings are actually those under 100 KM. Furthermore, local communities get nothing from their citizens betting, because the tax goes to where the betting shop is registered. Analysis has shown that the largest number of betting shops come from western Herzegovina, which is governed by the HDZ BiH. It is an open secret that betting shops are one of the biggest financiers of the HDZ BiH.

The SDA is now proposing amendments to the Law on Games of Chance in the FBiH. This party is calling for taxation of winnings under 100 KM as well. They also demand that tax be paid in the place where players place their bets, not where the betting shops are registered. However, this is strongly opposed by the HDZ BiH, the SDA's coalition partners. The SDA's proposal is also not supported by HDZ Finance Minister Jelka Milićević.

Dženan Đonlagić, who is also a professor at the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo, explains that this area must be regulated because a large amount of money from games of chance is currently outside the tax system. With additional taxation, he said, up to 200 million KM would flow into the FBiH budget.

The tenth session of the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament was not continued today because the parliamentary majority could not adopt a conclusion that the FBiH Government should amend the Law on Games of Chance within a month, NAP reports.