Goražde: Betting shops to pay 5,000 KM tax per computer

Domestic betting shops are under pressure in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde as well. With amendments to the Law on Property Tax, Inheritance, and Gifts, the Assembly of BPC Goražde has included personal computers used at betting points in the list of property for which the owner or user must pay an annual tax. Based on this, the Goražde Tax Administration has levied property tax on betting shops.

- The Goražde Tax Administration has determined that we must pay 5,000 KM in tax for each computer we have at a betting point. We have two computers at each betting point, which means we have to pay 10,000 KM annually for them. And since we also have to pay a municipal fee of 3,600 KM, this means we have to pay 13,600 KM annually per betting point - say representatives of the betting shop PREMIER WORLD SPORT.

- One computer at a betting point is worth approximately 700 KM, and in the first year alone, we have to pay 5,000 KM in property tax for it, or 714 percent more than its value. In the second year, considering the depreciation stipulated by the Law on Profit Tax, that computer is worth 33.33 percent less, and we still pay 5,000 KM in property tax for it, or 1,072 percent more than its value. In the third year, the computer is worth 66.66 percent less, and we still have to pay 5,000 KM in property tax, or 2,143 percent more than its actual value - emphasize PREMIER WORLD SPORT.

They stress that these are just further proof of the violation of the legal order and the Constitution in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- The Law on Games of Chance places the collection and distribution of revenue from games of chance exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Federation of BiH, not under the jurisdiction of municipalities and cantons. However, BPC Goražde places itself above the Federation of BiH and determines that personal computers in business premises are property, and sets enormous taxes on that property, even though we have already paid VAT upon purchasing the computers, and even though, in accordance with the Law on Games of Chance, we have already paid a fee for each betting point, which means that here we have a clear example of double, or rather, multiple taxation, which is prohibited - explain the representatives of PREMIER WORLD SPORT, emphasizing that "these measures apply only to betting shops, and not to other activities and economic entities, which constitutes a violation of the right to equality before the law guaranteed by the Constitution.".

- This is just a continuation of organized and continuous attacks on domestic betting shops in FBiH, with the aim of completely destroying and closing down this legal activity. We will fight with all available legal means against such forms of terror and defend our constitutionally guaranteed right to work and conduct business - conclude PREMIER WORLD SPORT.

The company PREMIER WORLD SPORT has filed an appeal against the disputed report of the Goražde Tax Administration with a proposal to suspend the proceedings, reports NAP.