The Medina administration is open to legalize all the betting shops nationwide. An article in Diario Libre speculates that the government desires the tax revenues that these betting parlors could generate and thus is authorizing their formal legal status.
The betting shops represent is one of the largest industries in the country and most of them are operating illegally, while the government turns a blind eye to all the negatives these bring to Dominican society.
Now, a bill has been proposed that would authorize the legalization of these clandestine betting shops, and offering those shops that register in the first quarter of 2019 to pay RD$200,000, while those that register in the second and third quarters would pay RD$250,000 and RD$300,000, respectively.
According to the executive director of the National Federation of Betting Shops (Fenabanca), Michel Dicent, has said there are around 40,000 betting shops operating illegally nationwide, as reported in Diario Libre. The bill establishes that betting shops that do not regularize their status by the established deadline will be considered to having committed tax fraud and thus be subject to penalties outlined in the Tax Code and the Asset Laundering Law.
An editorial in Diario Libre on 3 October 2018 criticizes government borrowing to cover the deficit and the government’s decision to legalize more betting shops. “In search of resources everywhere, the government will authorize more betting banks in the national territory. That is, instead of boosting employment, offering facilities to formalize companies, the only thing that the authorities can come up with is to encourage gambling in a country where the poor are the ones who pay the highest “taxes on hope.”
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
3 October 2018
