Antigua still has an advantage with new income tax

March 26, 2005

Reports this week in the Antiguan press that suggested new taxes might have precipitated the departure of an online gambling group were denied by Director of Off-Shore Gaming Kay McDonald.

"We still have an advantage in this country for gaming companies because there is no corporate tax," she asserted in dismissing a front-page report that companies were leaving because the Antigua jurisdiction was no longer an attractive tax jurisdiction. "Also gaming companies pay out dividends and these dividends are not going to be taxed," she continued. "Under the income tax act, dividends are among revenue areas that are exempt from the new measure.

McDonald downplayed the information in the press report that an offshore company was reported to have signed off on a license to set up business in Kahnawake in the Quebec province of Canada.

Discussing the state of affairs in the industry in relation to the pending income tax, spokesperson of the AOGA and McDonald's predecessor Ron Maginley said members of the industry felt "...the tax rate proposed by the government, may remove the cost benefit of conducting some portions of operations within Antigua."

Parliament is currently debating the new tax measures.

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