Korea's tax revenue from the country's gambling industry expanded 4 percent in 2015 from the previous year due largely to increased sales, data showed Monday.
According to the data by the National Gambling Control Commission, taxes collected from gambling-related businesses, including casinos and horse race betting, reached 2.42 trillion won ($2.06 billion) last year, compared with 2.32 trillion won a year earlier.
(Yonhap)
Tax revenue from casinos surged 12.1 percent on-year to 478.8 billion won, while that from horse race betting edged up 1.6 percent to 1.45 trillion won.
Taxes collected from betting on bicycle racing rose 5.1 percent on-year, with those from bullfights soaring more than 300 percent. Only tax revenue from betting on motorboat racing dropped 0.9 percent.
The commission said tax revenue from the gambling sector increased last year as its sales grew 3.1 percent on-year to 20.5 trillion won. Sales of the gambling industry have been on a steady rise over the past year. Last year's sales grew 1.7 times from those in 2006.
Industry experts said tax revenue from the gambling industry may decline this year as the government has announced a series of tax increases on betting on horse racing, bicycle racing and motorboat racing. (Yonhap)