Representative Angélica Casillas Martínez introduced a bill that seeks to establish a 10 percent tax on expenditures and 6 percent on the prizes received by gamblers in the state.
Mexico.- The parliamentary group of the National Action Party proposed creating a new tax related to betting through games and lotteries conducted in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
Representative Angélica Casillas Martínez stated that the proposal, in addition to pursuing a fiscal purpose, is carried out with a public health and safety perspective, to balance economic and social interests.
Specifically, the initiative seeks to establish a tax of 10 percent on expenditures and 6 percent on the prizes that participants of gambling games in the state receive.
Angélica Casillas expressed that it is not about prohibiting games and betting, but about establishing mechanisms to deter gamblers from falling into problematic gambling.
Later, the parliamentarian highlighted that a similar tax to the one in her project already exists in most Mexican states, except Guanajuato, which is why this federative unit must update to regulations that have already occurred in other parts of the country. Additionally, Casillas said that the tax constitutes a public law obligation and must be established by law, as well as being proportional and intended to cover public expenses.
According to the official, the exponential increase in the supply and demand of gambling and betting has led to the proliferation of cases of problematic gambling, so the establishment of this norm will help combat this situation.
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Finally, she pointed out that the aim is to establish contributions with a social impact objective, in order to satisfy the extra-fiscal purpose of having a measure against gambling addiction, and impacting security conditions without pursuing a fiscal purpose.
After the judicial presentation by the Clean Hands Organization for alleged fraud in public contests, the National Court Prosecutor declared that the complaint is inadmissible.
Spain.- The prosecutor of the National Court, Carlos García-Berro, has issued a harsh writ against the plaintiffs of the alleged rigging in the State Society of Lotteries and State Betting (SELAE) and opposed the investigation of the case by judge Santiago Pedraz.
García-Berro asked judge Pedraz to dismiss the complaint filed by the Clean Hands Organization for an alleged fraud in public contests designed to benefit specific individuals in the process of obtaining licenses. These licenses allow the holders to manage the 52 commercial delegations of the State Lotteries, an entity that depends directly on the Ministry of Finance headed by Minister María Jesús Montero. Therefore, this case involved the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Pedro Sánchez and Minister of Finance.
The plaintiffs submitted to the judge an expert report in which all the irregularities in the awards of these provincial delegations were denounced, which, coincidentally, tend to pass "from parents to children" or to other family members. This pattern of award has raised suspicions, as it seems to suggest that public contests, although theoretically open to all, favor in practice certain relatives of the prominent delegates.
Internal sources consulted by the Spanish media The Objective claim that "it is not a mere coincidence," but in reality "there has never been strict regulation" in public contests for the concession of commercial delegations. According to these sources, the processes have been allowed to be adulterated so that the beneficiaries are always the same people.
The prosecutor ignored this complaint. "It is notable that five contracts, no matter how much the plaintiffs insist on seeing criminal conduct of all kinds and no matter how baselessly it is claimed that they are many millions, are not sufficient basis to affirm the competence of the National Court, nor to, as requested, order an entry and search at the headquarters of Lotteries and State Betting," he stated.
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It was an examining magistrate of the Courts of Plaza de Castilla in Madrid who determined that this case was within the competence of the National Court and referred the plaintiffs to this body. For this reason, they filed a new complaint in the National Court.
"In addition to lack of objective competence, the dismissal of the complaint is also due to the absence of the minimum consistency in the narrative of the punishable acts, constructed artificially, with excerpts from minutes, speculations, and own conclusions. Generally, a narrative constituted ad hoc does not legitimize any popular litigant to turn the own narrative into a narrative of punishable acts triggering the criminal process. Something more is needed," expressed the representative of the National Court in his rejection.
"The only narrative offered to the own narrative constructed by the complainant is a so-called expert report which, in reality, is a report from a private detective among whose sources of knowledge is the consultation of ChatGPT, press clippings, and official bulletin clippings," García-Berro elaborated on the reasons for his rejection. Thus, the case that cornered SELAE and included important figures of the Spanish government will not advance in court.
