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racing, but hey, never see too many Japan articles in English 
Yokohama considers taxing betting office
Yomiuri Shimbun
YOKOHAMA -- The Yokohama municipal government says it has begun to discuss plans to collect taxes from a local offtrack betting office of the Japan Racing Association, pachinko parlors and businesses in the sex industry.
Yokohama Mayor Hidenobu Takahide said at a press conference Monday that concrete measures such as a taxation formula will be drawn up by the end of the year.
Takahide said the local government began studying plans to impose an "appropriate financial burden" on the betting office and other highly profitable businesses that receive local government services but are exempt from corporate tax and corporate municipal tax as public-service corporations.
The city also began considering imposing new taxes on some of the businesses that operate under the Entertainment Establishments Control Law.
According to the Treasury Bureau of the municipal government, the takings of WINS Yokohama, the JRA Yokohama ticket office, has increased 10-fold in comparison with fiscal 1972, when a system--in which a portion of JRA profits is awarded to the host city based on the Japan Racing Association Law--was introduced. But during the same period the payment to the city for environmental management purposes increased only 1.2-fold to about 40 million yen.
The municipal government, therefore, is believed to have come up with the plan to tax the JRA according to its income.
The new tax on pachinko parlors and businesses in the sex industry also is believed to be designed to discourage such businesses from locating in the city. The municipal government appears to be acting out of consideration for public sentiment.
The JRA has reacted negatively to the envisioned tax.
"The amount of the subsidy is regulated by law. A revision to the law is a prerequisite for the Yokohama government to impose the new taxation on the offtrack betting office," an official at JRA's public relations department said. "We cannot make exceptions for the Yokohama government."
Referring to the envisioned taxation on the JRA ticketing office, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tokuichiro Tamazama said Tuesday it would be very difficult for the JRA to pay the new tax in addition to handing over part of its takings to state coffers, because takings are falling.
In fiscal 1999, the JRA paid 402.9 billion yen to state coffers in the form of 10 percent of takings and half of the profit. It also handed over 8.5 billion yen to local municipalities as environmental management expenses.
Yokohama considers taxing betting office
Yomiuri Shimbun
YOKOHAMA -- The Yokohama municipal government says it has begun to discuss plans to collect taxes from a local offtrack betting office of the Japan Racing Association, pachinko parlors and businesses in the sex industry.
Yokohama Mayor Hidenobu Takahide said at a press conference Monday that concrete measures such as a taxation formula will be drawn up by the end of the year.
Takahide said the local government began studying plans to impose an "appropriate financial burden" on the betting office and other highly profitable businesses that receive local government services but are exempt from corporate tax and corporate municipal tax as public-service corporations.
The city also began considering imposing new taxes on some of the businesses that operate under the Entertainment Establishments Control Law.
According to the Treasury Bureau of the municipal government, the takings of WINS Yokohama, the JRA Yokohama ticket office, has increased 10-fold in comparison with fiscal 1972, when a system--in which a portion of JRA profits is awarded to the host city based on the Japan Racing Association Law--was introduced. But during the same period the payment to the city for environmental management purposes increased only 1.2-fold to about 40 million yen.
The municipal government, therefore, is believed to have come up with the plan to tax the JRA according to its income.
The new tax on pachinko parlors and businesses in the sex industry also is believed to be designed to discourage such businesses from locating in the city. The municipal government appears to be acting out of consideration for public sentiment.
The JRA has reacted negatively to the envisioned tax.
"The amount of the subsidy is regulated by law. A revision to the law is a prerequisite for the Yokohama government to impose the new taxation on the offtrack betting office," an official at JRA's public relations department said. "We cannot make exceptions for the Yokohama government."
Referring to the envisioned taxation on the JRA ticketing office, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tokuichiro Tamazama said Tuesday it would be very difficult for the JRA to pay the new tax in addition to handing over part of its takings to state coffers, because takings are falling.
In fiscal 1999, the JRA paid 402.9 billion yen to state coffers in the form of 10 percent of takings and half of the profit. It also handed over 8.5 billion yen to local municipalities as environmental management expenses.