The Off Topic Topic

[crazy canuck]

We have a few casinos around here, and they tend to be visited by people on welfare/disability/social security mostly from what I hear.  If people on the dole want to go to a casino and give some of their money back to the state, then who am I to stop them?

They are not giving their money back to the state.  They are giving their money to a casino operator who may well have a sweetheart tax deal with the taxig authority.  Indeed that state likely has to incur a greater cost given all the other social problems associated with gambling addiction.

[MadImmortalMan]

Usually those deals involve the state taking a cut of the winnings before the operator gets to call his chunk income and pay tax on it. Sometimes it's a tribal government in place of the state.

[crazy canuck]

Usually those deals involve the state taking a cut of the winnings before the operator gets to call his chunk income and pay tax on it. Sometimes it's a tribal government in place of the state.

Whatever the detail of the transaction might be it is not accurate to assume the gambling losses simply revert to the government as a wash.

[The Larch]

Apparently one of the things this guy wants changed is the Spanish gambling law, which forces people to pay taxes on their winnings in Spain, in order to allow them to pay those taxes in their home countries.

[DGuller]

Remember, casinos are evil.

Also, they don't employ anyone locally at all.

I'm always amused (or horrified) by this kind of thinking.  Just because you have to hire some labor to clean out the pockets of gamblers doesn't mean that you're creating jobs.  You're just replacing productive jobs (due to reduced consumer spending) with parasitic jobs.

[MadImmortalMan]

Apparently one of the things this guy wants changed is the Spanish gambling law, which forces people to pay taxes on their winnings in Spain, in order to allow them to pay those taxes in their home countries.

I think you guys might be somewhat unique in that regard. I remember having to pay Spanish taxes on dividends when I owned stock in Spanish companies. I never had to do that for any other holdings with foreign registration.

[Caliga]

I have to pay Japanese taxes on dividends earned from Japanese companies.

[Jacob]

[CountDeMoney]

 

You can't fake the funk on a nasty dunk

[crazy canuck]

Apparently one of the things this guy wants changed is the Spanish gambling law, which forces people to pay taxes on their winnings in Spain, in order to allow them to pay those taxes in their home countries.

I think you guys might be somewhat unique in that regard. I remember having to pay Spanish taxes on dividends when I owned stock in Spanish companies. I never had to do that for any other holdings with foreign registration.

irrc the US also forces foriegners to pay tax on the proceeds of gambling made in the US

[Admiral Yi]

I wonder how that's done.  I've never seen anyone asking for a passport in a Casino.

[DGuller]

I wonder how that's done.  I've never seen anyone asking for a passport in a Casino.

You have to fill out some forms if you cash out more than $10,000.  At that point they'll know.  For lower amounts, there is really no way to track that as far I can see, unless you're playing with a player's card, and casino has a way to track the card.

[crazy canuck]

I wonder how that's done.  I've never seen anyone asking for a passport in a Casino.

There is some kind of limit.  I dont know the details as I have never reached it.  But one of my partners did and he had to pay the tax.

[Eddie Teach]

I'm always amused (or horrified) by this kind of thinking.  Just because you have to hire some labor to clean out the pockets of gamblers doesn't mean that you're creating jobs.  You're just replacing productive jobs (due to reduced consumer spending) with parasitic jobs.

Taking money out of honest bookies' hands.

[Ideologue]

At the moment over here we have an American gaming magnate wanting to build a massive casino complex around Madrid (humorously nicknamed Euro Vegas), and one of his conditions is his casinos being exempt from the current smoking laws.

Excellent.  So they are not only going to drain the economy of disposable (and not so disposable) income that would otherwise be used to purchase goods and services but they are also going to increase future health care costs.

Why would anyone be opposed to that?

Does money made by a casino evaporate?

Lol.  They should build a university instead.