Sydney’s flailing Star casino to be given a temporary tax reprieve

The NSW government will issue a temporary reprieve to cash-strapped Star Entertainment Group less than two weeks before the casino giant unveils its full-year results, after months of deliberation over a controversial tax increase it inherited from the former Liberal government.

The Herald can reveal Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will in coming days announce a revised arrangement for the planned duty rate increase on poker machine profits

ultiple sources unauthorised to speak publicly about the matter suggested the deal will most likely involve a staged transition plan to give the flailing operator more time to stabilise its operation and avoid further job losses.

Two months ago, Mookhey delayed legislation for the duty rate increase that would have been imposed on the profits from poker machines and table game earnings in the casino from July.

Former Liberal treasurer Matt Kean in December proposed profits from The Star’s poker machines be taxed at a top rate of 60.7 per cent to generate $364 million extra revenue over the next three years. The current tax leveraged from the group’s poker machine profits is less than half this amount.

A Treasury spokesperson did not respond when asked about the likely outcome after the two-month deliberation but said the NSW government was “currently considering the next steps in relation to casino tax rates”.