Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, moved the second reading of the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2023 in the Legislative Council on May 31, 2023. The bill would impose an additional football betting duty of HKD 2.4 billion per year on football betting operators for five years1.
Existing betting duty rates would stay unchanged1.
"由二○二三至二四年度起至二○二七至二八年度，向足球投注舉辦商徵收每年24億元的額外博彩稅，而現有博彩稅稅率則維持不變。"
The government said it considered several factors when proposing the extra duty, including the affordability of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the parent entity of the existing football betting operator, and external competition facing Hong Kong's football betting business1. The Jockey Club has also undertaken not to reduce its commitment to local charities1. The bill sets out technical matters related to the extra duty, including the duty amount, payment dates and other administrative arrangements1.
What it means for players
The extra duty falls on the football betting operator, not on bettors directly, and the government said existing betting duty rates remain unchanged1. The bill does not change the tax paid by individual punters, and no change to odds, products or account terms for customers of the Jockey Club has been reported. Football betting in Hong Kong is run by the Jockey Club, the only authorized operator, so the measure affects the operator's costs rather than the legality of betting for locals, expats or visitors. Whether the operator adjusts odds, margins or products in response has not been reported.
What happens next
The bill had its second reading on May 31, 20231. The government said it had issued a paper to the Legislative Council explaining the bill's details and that it hoped members would support passing the bill so the extra duty could take effect as early as possible to give the government stable additional revenue in the short term1. The outcome of the second reading and any later stages have not been reported here.
For background on how betting is regulated in the city, see Can I Gamble in Hong Kong? and Can I Bet on Sports in Hong Kong?. For the wider regional picture, see Recent and Pending Gambling Law Changes in Asia and Gambling Laws in Asia: What Is Legal in 12 Jurisdictions. Details on the operator's products are in Jockey Club Football Bet Types and Odds Explained, and account setup is covered in How to Open a Jockey Club Betting Account.
Sources1 sources
- 立法會：財經事務及庫務局局長動議二讀《2023年博彩稅（修訂）條例草案》發言全文（只有中文）, info.gov.hk
