PART 1 | Short title and commencement |
| 1. This Act is the Gambling Duties Act 2022 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette. |
2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “authorised betting operator” has the meaning given by section 3(5); |
| “authorised lottery promoter” has the meaning given by section 4(4); |
“authorised person”, for provision of a gaming service, means a person who —| (a) | is authorised, under a licence, permit or other authority granted under any written law, to provide the gaming service in or from a place in Singapore; or | | (b) | is, under any written law, exempt from the licence, permit or authorisation requirements under any written law that would otherwise apply for providing the gaming service in or from a place in Singapore, |
| but excludes a holder of a casino licence granted under section 49 of the Casino Control Act 2006 with regard to the provision of the gaming service if covered by the casino licence; |
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| “bet” and “betting” have the meanings given by section 3(1), (2), (3) and (4); |
| “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Gambling Duties appointed under section 32, and includes any Deputy Commissioner of Gambling Duties or Assistant Commissioner of Gambling Duties; |
| “enforcement official”, in relation to any provision of this Act or the Regulations, means an individual who is appointed as an enforcement official under section 33(1) for the purposes of that provision; |
| “exercise of skill” includes a display of knowledge; |
| “game of chance” includes a game that is partly a game of chance and partly a game requiring the exercise of skill; |
“gaming machine” means a device, whether wholly or partly mechanically or electronically operated, that —| (a) | is adapted, or designed and constructed, for betting, participating in a lottery or playing a game of chance; | | (b) | is played or confers a right to participate (wholly or in part) by —| (i) | the insertion of money or money’s worth into it; or | | (ii) | the direct or indirect payment of money or money’s worth or any thing of value by any other means; and |
| | (c) | pays out money or money’s worth or any thing of value, or registers a right to an amount of money or money’s worth or any thing of value, |
| such as (but not limited to) a jackpot machine or fruit machine; |
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“gaming service” means the provision of a service for the conduct of a game of chance where —| (a) | the game may be played for money or money’s worth or any thing else of value; and | | (b) | a customer of the service gives or agrees to give money or money’s worth or any thing else of value to play or enter the game; |
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| “IRAS” means the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore established under the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Act 1992; |
| “lottery” has the meaning given by section 4; |
| “money’s worth” means any thing recognised as equivalent to money, and includes virtual credits, virtual coins, virtual tokens, virtual objects or any similar thing that is purchased within, or as part of, or in relation to, a game of chance; |
| “non‑casino premises” means any premises in Singapore that is not covered by a casino licence granted under section 49 of the Casino Control Act 2006; |
“officer” —| (a) | in relation to a corporation, means any director, partner, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the corporation, and includes —| (i) | any person purporting to act in any such capacity; and | | (ii) | for a corporation whose affairs are managed by its members, any of those members as if the member were a director of the corporation; and |
| | (b) | in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, and includes —| (i) | any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of a committee of the unincorporated association; and | | (ii) | any person purporting to act in any such capacity; |
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| “penalty tax” means a penalty tax imposed under section 13; |
“premises” means —| (a) | any space, whether built on or not and whether underground or underwater, or any part of such a space; or | | (b) | any building or structure, whether situated underground or underwater, or any part of a building or structure or place, |
| and includes any vehicle, train, vessel or aircraft or any part of it; |
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“prize”, in relation to a lottery or game of chance, includes any money or money’s worth, articles or services or other thing of value —| (a) | whether or not described as a prize; and | | (b) | whether or not consisting wholly or partly of money or money’s worth paid, or articles or services or other thing of value provided, by the persons of the class among whom the prize is allocated; |
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| “Regulations” means regulations made under section 45; |
| “relevant business” means any business in Singapore, whether or not carried on for profit, but excludes any business wholly for the conduct of research or wholly not involving any gambling; |
“remote communication” means communication through —| (a) | the Internet; | | (b) | telephone; | | (c) | television or radio; or | | (d) | any other kind of electronic or other technology for facilitating communication; |
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| “return” means a return required under section 22 or 23; |
| “return date”, for a taxable person, means the last day by which the taxable person is required under section 22 or 23 to lodge a return with respect to a taxable gambling undertaking and the gambling duty payable in respect of the taxable gambling undertaking; |
| “taxable gambling undertaking” has the meaning given by section 5(1); |
| “taxable person” means a person liable to pay for any gambling duty under section 7; |
| “totalisator” has the meaning given by the Singapore Totalisator Board Act 1987. |
| (2) For the purposes of this Act, a person plays a game of chance if the person participates in a game of chance whether or not there are other participants in the game of chance, and whether or not a computer generates images or data taken to represent the actions of other participants in the game of chance. |
| (3) To avoid doubt, a person plays a game of chance for money or money’s worth if the person plays a game of chance and thereby acquires a chance of winning any money or money’s worth, whether or not the person risks losing anything at the game. |
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| Meaning of “betting” and associated expressions |
3.—(1) In this Act, “betting” means making or accepting a bet on —| (a) | the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process; | | (b) | the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring; or | | (c) | whether anything is or is not true. |
(2) A transaction that relates to the outcome of a race, competition, sporting event or other event or process may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —| (a) | the race, competition, event or process has already occurred or been completed; and | | (b) | one party to the transaction knows the outcome. |
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(3) A transaction that relates to the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring may be a bet within the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that —| (a) | the thing has already occurred or failed to occur; and | | (b) | one party to the transaction knows that the thing has already occurred or failed to occur. |
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(4) Without limiting subsections (1), (2) and (3), a bet includes —| (a) | a free bet, which is a bet made wholly or partly using an amount that is provided to the person making the bet by the authorised betting operator with whom the bet is made and is not immediately redeemable by the person for cash; and | | (b) | a bet made using a totalisator. |
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(5) An authorised betting operator is a person who —| (a) | is authorised, under a licence, permit or other authority granted under any written law, to conduct betting operations in or from a place in Singapore; or | | (b) | is, under any written law, exempt from the licence, permit or authorisation requirements that would otherwise apply for conducting betting operations in or from a place in Singapore, |
| but excludes a holder of a casino licence granted under section 49 of the Casino Control Act 2006 with regard to any betting operations covered by the casino licence. |
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(6) Subject to subsection (9), a person conducts betting operations if the person, whether in person or through an agent, by remote communication or otherwise —| (a) | receives bets; | | (b) | pays, negotiates or settles bets; or | | (c) | operates a betting exchange. |
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(7) A reference in this Act to a bet made with, or received by, a betting operator includes a reference to a bet made with the betting operator —| (a) | through an agent; | | (b) | wholly or partly by means of remote communication; or | | (c) | partly inside and partly outside Singapore. |
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| (8) Also, a reference in this Act to a bet made with, or received by, a betting operator includes, for a betting operator who operates a betting exchange, a reference to a bet made through the betting operator using the betting exchange. |
(9) However, a person does not conduct betting operations, and is not an agent of another person who conducts betting operations, merely because the person —| (a) | provides, or operates facilities for network access; or | | (b) | provides services relating to, or provides connections for, the transmission or routing of data by remote communication. |
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| Meaning of “lottery” and associated expressions |
4.—(1) In this Act, “lottery” means an arrangement or a scheme, competition or device for the distribution of prizes where —| (a) | entitlement to participation in the arrangement, scheme, competition or device depends on the payment of money, the purchase of a ticket or the giving of any thing of value by the participant; and | | (b) | the distribution depends, at any stage of the arrangement, scheme, competition or device, on an element of chance (even if the arrangement, scheme, competition or device, in some other respects, involves a genuine or purported exercise of skill), |
| and includes lucky draws, raffles and sweepstakes. |
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a reference to paying includes a reference to any of the following:| (a) | paying money; | | (b) | transferring money’s worth; | | (c) | paying for goods or services at a price or rate which reflects the opportunity to participate in an arrangement or a scheme, competition or device. |
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| (3) For the purposes of this section, it does not matter whether the lottery is held, drawn, exercised or managed wholly in Singapore or partly inside and partly outside Singapore. |
(4) An authorised lottery promoter is a person who —| (a) | is authorised, under a licence, permit or other authority granted under any written law, to promote a lottery in or from a place in Singapore; or | | (b) | is, under any written law, exempt from the licence, permit or authorisation requirements that would otherwise apply for promoting a lottery in or from a place in Singapore, |
| but excludes a holder of a casino licence granted under section 49 of the Casino Control Act 2006 with regard to any lottery covered by the casino licence. |
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(5) Without limiting subsection (4), the following is to be taken to promote a lottery, for the purposes of this Act:| (a) | the person conducts or organises the lottery, whether alone or with others; | | (b) | each person who authorises the conduct or organisation of a lottery as an officer, a trustee or member of the governing body of an incorporated or unincorporated body; | | (c) | a person or body that authorises the conduct or organisation of a lottery by a contractor or an employee or agent; | | (d) | a person who assists in conducting or organising a lottery; | | (e) | a person or body that solicits or receives any money, property or other benefit in the course of the conduct or organisation of a lottery (other than as a prize winner or participant in the lottery); | | (f) | any other person or body prescribed for the purposes of this section by the Regulations. |
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