High court denies Tabcorp appeal over levy

Australia’s High Court declined to grant Tabcorp special leave to appeal a judgment made in July ordering the company to pay a levy on its former gaming machine operations.

The Victorian government had applied a Health Benefit Levy on Tabcorp’s former gaming machine operations for the 2013 financial year, the company announced.

Tabcorp says the levy ignores the fact that Tabcorp ceased its gaming machine operations in August 2012.

After bringing proceedings against the government in 2013, the Supreme Court decided that the Victorian government had discretion under the Gambling Regulation Act to calculate the levy pro-rata.

But in July 2014 the appeal court ruled in favor of the government, reinstating the levy for the initial proposed period.

The company said the court of appeal’s final ruling has impacted total earnings for 2014 by an estimated $19 million after tax.

“There is no further impact on Tabcorp’s financial accounts as a result of today’s decision,” the company said in a statement.

 

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