Coljuegos and Juan B. Pérez, have not stopped being a trend among the conversations held by the different actors of the gambling sector, as their concern for the future and sustainability of the industry has increased strongly due to the letter sent by the same entity and that put Coljuegos in the eye of the hurricane.
Just when the eyes of international operators have been placed in Colombia, a letter appeared that the President of Coljuegos Juan B. Perez addressed to the Minister of Finance, where he explains the reasons for raising taxes on the Localized Gambling type (Casinos) and Bingos.
The news caused a stir to the point of almost shooing down two large projects of 350 slots machines and 30 poker tables (150 chairs) that are planned in the center of the Colombian capital.
Making an analysis of the mission, we must begin with a correction made by Coljuegos regarding the existence of no more than 20 thousand slot machines that pay the presumptive rate of 30% of the monthly minimum wage, total of slots machines that produce results no greater than 95 billion Colombian pesos. To understand it better we will see the background of this and understand the current situation of the industry and the schemes used to take out the collection values.
First, the charge is made individually, it means it’s done machine by machine, forcing the operator whether small, medium or large to respond for charges at all times, which translates to payments whether the machine gives a loss or gain. Even the number of machines that manages to reach the payment of the presumptive rate optimally is small and worrying compared to the total number of authorized machines.
When understanding the latter, we can continue with the analysis directed towards the current situation of the industry. Where is reflected, an industry that managed to transfer several trillion pesos but at the expense of what?
In the sector of localized games, there have been longer and even closures and / or decreases in their operations that operators have had to live, than the expansion in their offer, of which the regulatory entity affirms in said letter.
Now, continuing with the numbers, Coljuegos continues to work under the same collection scheme which has given them income, if this charge is modified, which is machine-by-machine, it would increase the rate by 4 percent, that is, the operator would begin to pay 34% instead of the current 30%, this would increase the current collection of 95 billion in 3,800 million.
The assumption of the regulatory entity as understood in the letter, starts erroneously, because according to Coljuegos and his statement, under the current scenario the collection is 189 billion pesos annually.
The lag itself, gives to understand a little more in depth than the statistical analysis performed by Coljuegos, has been done in a global manner, allowing to assume that has unified several types of game that may be present in the same room, but, it is NOT argued or give feasible bases for the reason for the tax increase (different from wanting to increase resources
The second point directed specifically to localized games, Coljuegos poses a penalty that generates confusion due to its ambiguity.
"The Electronic Slot Machine (MET) that during the execution of the concession contract does not report information in the online connection system must pay a fee of 45% of a legal monthly minimum wage in effect, Coljuegos will determine the technical conditions for the application of this rule "
At the moment, the operator must pay 30% when the machine, for example, is in repair because there is no transmission, however, the shared document does not specify in a completely clear way if this monetary sanction continues the same guideline that is I had before and it is a 15% increase to this, or if it is a new monetary sanction in which the failure to report is punished.
This is a statement that makes the scheme something more tangled, since they declare that Coljuegos will determine the technical conditions for the application of this norm. Allowing thus between supposing again, that the measures exposed in the letter are not yet completely ready, and that they are still an extension of the form of work that has been previously carried out, where the entity issues an ambiguous resolution for the moment of its practice find legal gaps and shortcomings, with this you enter evaluation, accommodation, repair and again enter function.
The discouragement that is being generated will result in an increase in illegality, where not only Coljuegos but National Taxes will end up absorbing the fall of their income and generating in the street a discomfort of the offer, going to the positive the criminal bands that operate in peripheries and neighborhoods of low strata.
Finally, the current collection model continues to generate without flavors and non-dynamisms as the government or the regulatory entity intends, perhaps because it continues to focus on the particular and not on the global, that is, the collection of machine by machine does not do more that increase the coffers of the government, hurting the sustainability of the sector and that of its entrepreneurs.
At best, rethinking this model by placing it on contract charges would allow for broader measures that meet the interests of all the parties involved.
Well, by having a globalized charge, the direct hit suffered by employers is significantly reduced, it leaves the dynamism within the industry through different strategies that the regulator comes up with, and finally it would also allow to continue increasing the Government coffers, but most importantly: THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE INDUSTRY
