A proposed change to the law would fix casino entry levies here for Singapore citizens and permanent residents at S$150 (US$114) per day and S$3,000 yearly, after an earlier oversight, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said in a press release on Tuesday (Aug 5).
The change is part of the
Casino Control (Amendment) Bill introduced in Parliament by Minister of State for Home Affairs and for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling on Tuesday. The Casino Control Act was last amended in 2012.
The levies, which aim to deter casual and impulse gambling, had been increased on Apr 4, 2019 from S$100 daily and S$2,000 annually, for a period of five years.
However, MHA had overlooked the expiry of the 2019 order, and the levies automatically reverted to the
lower rates on Apr 4 this year.
On May 8, MHA restored them to the higher amounts, though they were still collected in the expiry period from Apr 4 to May 7 – with about S$4.4 million collected above the legislated entry levyrates.
“It was always the government’s intent to maintain the higher entry levies beyond the five-year period,” the ministries said in the press release, explaining that the proposed amendments would “regularise the higher entry levies” collected in the expiry period.
“We have tightened our processes to avoid a repeat of such an incident.”
There are for now no plans to increase the entry levy further, though the authorities will keep monitoring and make changes when necessary, said MHA.
Under the proposed changes to the law, breaching a Family Visit Limit for casinos becomes a punishable offence. An excluded person could be fined up to S$10,000 and jailed up to 12 months if found guilty.
A Family Visit Limit is applied by family members to limit the number of times a person can enter a casino, if his or her gambling behaviour has caused harm to them, including financial and emotional distress, neglect of family responsibilities, or relationship breakdowns.
Source: CNA
