By nature, businesses are taxable, so it makes sense that casinos should be taxed. But in some countries, they also tax individual gambling winnings. That got me thinking, what’s the real purpose behind that? Most of us gamblers are overall losers anyway, so what impact does taxing the winnings really have?
What's the purpose of the government getting their due taxation from a gambler's win? Is this supposed to be a question? Anything revenue, wherever it's coming from, of whatever course it's meant to serve, the governments are obliged to tax before returns. If that discourages you to gamble in some type of ways, then you're right -- quit!
Would it actually boost government revenue, or could it backfire and discourage people from gambling altogether, knowing it’s already hard to win and when they finally do, they still have to pay taxes?
Are you being serious right now? Let's do a quick math so you can see for yourself. If 2 million people contributed a dollar each (which is not so far-fetched), you'll have $2 million in cash. Now imagine what return gets back to the government after milking you of $10 as tax for a $500k win.