Australian casino giant Star Entertainment encouraged local high rollers to falsely claim they lived outside NSW as part of a scheme that minimised the amount of gaming tax the casino paid the state government.
Two insiders who worked at The Star Sydney casino have confirmed their direct involvement in a practice that encouraged big local punters to obtain documentation to make it appear they resided overseas or interstate, even though they lived in NSW.
The players were told if they could meet the checklist of requirements to apply for non-NSW resident gaming status, such as a current interstate driver’s licence or recent passport visa stamps, they could gain access to lucrative rebate programs. The program involved The Star paying high rollers a small cut of their gambling turnover.
The effect of the practice was that The Star Sydney may have paid millions of dollars less in gaming revenue to the NSW government.
Under a deal struck with the NSW government, The Star Sydney pays a discounted tax rate of about 10 per cent on revenue it generates from non-local VIP gamblers who are part of these rebate programs. Revenue generated by local players at The Star is taxed at more than double the discounted rate.
