SkyCity Entertainment Group has announced that the courts have denied its appeal over whether loyalty points converted to gaming machine play revenue should not be subject to the casino duty at its Adelaide casino.
‘The High Court has confirmed the Court of Appeal’s interpretation of the Agreement finding that credits on gaming machines arising from the conversion of loyalty points, when played by customers, are to be included in gaming revenue for the purpose of calculating casino duty at the SkyCity Adelaide casino,’ notes the company.
Due to the judgment, and a former one that was not appealed, SkyCity has already set aside AU$13.1 million ($8.75 million) ‘in relation to the potential exposure to additional casino duty payable’. This is, however, an estimate based on casino duty returns filed up to January 2024.
On top of this, SkyCity could be facing a further interest payment ‘which could be up to around AU$25.3 million ($16.9 million)’. This relates to SkyCity’s appeal on the interest clause in the Agreement, which was also denied by the High Court, ruling in favor of the Treasurer of South Australia.
‘The question of the amount of interest payable on outstanding duty remains to be determined by a single Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia at a later date,’ notes the company.
Up until June 30th, the company had not set aside a provision for the interest payment due to the ‘range of potential outcomes’.
Speaking of the matter, SkyCity’s Chief Executive Officer Jason Walbridge noted that “This is a long running matter involving highly technical tax issues regarding the calculation of casino duty […] We look forward to the resolution of this matter and will continue to work with RevenueSA to achieve this”.
SkyCity Entertainment Group operates one casino in Australia and three casinos in New Zealand (Auckland, Hamilton, and Queenstown). It also offers online gaming to New Zealanders via the SkyCity Online Casino, based out of Malta.
