Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2023年5月 亞博匯 84 10 YEARS AGO visitors per year and provide 70,000 direct jobs. Taiwan’s then Minister of Transportation and Communications, Yeh Kuang Shih, even had his department draft a preliminary regulatory framework for gaming on Matsu – where residents had recently voted in favor of casinos – for consideration by the Legislative Yuan. “The legislation would impose an effective 14% tax on gaming revenue which includes a 7% ‘franchise fee’ for the first 15 years of operation, increasing to 8% through year 25 and 9% thereafter, and a local government tax capped at 7%,” we wrote. “The minimum age for entering a casino would be set at 20, and a number of Singapore- style safeguards are proposed, such as banning recipients of government allowances and individuals who have been declared bankrupt or have bad credit records. The bill would also allow family members, close relatives or partners to request exclusion orders on relatives.” Once again however, this dream failed to become reality as Taiwan has continued to grapple with the pros and cons of casino gaming. In reality, the dream appears further away now than ever before – what a difference a decade makes. Taipei, Taiwan 台北，台灣 當時台灣地區交通運輸部門負責人 葉匡時甚至讓其部門起草了馬祖博彩的 初步監管法案並提交立法院審議，而該 島的居民亦投票讚成開設賭場。 本刊當時寫道：「立法將對博彩收 入徵收14%的有效稅，其中包括運營前 15年7%的『特許經營費』，到第25年 增加到8%，此後增加到9%，地方政府 稅收上限為7％。」 「進入賭場的最低年齡為20歲，並 提出了一些新加坡式的保障措施，諸如 禁止領取政府津貼、被宣佈破產或有不 良信用記錄的個人進入賭場。該法案還 計劃允許家庭成員、近親或伴侶申請對 親屬發出排除令。」 然而，這個夢想再度落空，因為台 灣尚在努力解決賭場賭博利弊的問題。 現實中，這個夢想似比任何以往時候都 要遙遠，畢竟十年之間的變化可謂滄海 桑田。