POCT powered – State governments bank over $10 billion in gambling taxes in 2025/26

Australia’s state and territory governments are banking $10.5 billion a year in gambling taxes, with $1.27 billion of that coming via Point Of Consumption taxes (POCT) levied on racing and sports betting.

A review of the budgets of the six states and two territories reveals the extent of the windfall reaped from gambling via taxation, with 6.9 per cent of overall state and territory taxation revenue coming via the gambling dollar.

In all, Australians paid $151.3 billion to state and territory governments in taxation in the 2025/26 financial year, with gambling continuing to play a major role.

The highest proportion of taxation revenue derived from gambling taxes came in the Northern Territory (NT), at 16.3 per cent, while Tasmania sees 14.7 per cent of its state taxation revenue come through gambling-related taxes.

For the three most populous states, New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and Queensland, which between them make up 78 per cent of the population, the reliance on gambling for state-based taxation revenue is less significant.

In Queensland, 8.3 per cent of taxation revenue is via gambling, while it is 7.4 per cent in NSW and 6.6 per cent in Victoria. South Australia (SA) is slightly higher at 9.3 per cent.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Western Australia (WA) are the least reliant on gambling revenue, with gambling accounting for three per cent and 2.4 per cent of taxation revenue respectively.

When it comes to calculating the total state-based gambling tax revenue collected per person, the Australian average is $380. The NT ($557) and Tasmania ($504) are the highest, followed by NSW ($445), Queensland ($411) and Victoria ($387).

SA’s government collects $369 of gambling tax per person, while the ACT’s figure is $181 and WA $134.

Of the $10.5 billion collected, 11.9 per cent comes from Point of Consumption taxes, which didn’t exist before SA introduced its version nine years ago.

These taxes, which carry different names in each state, effectively operate on the same model, as a percentage of overall wagering revenue derived from customers who are residents in that state.

Percentages and thresholds differ across jurisdictions.

Victoria and NSW essentially have the same system, with 15 per cent of wagering revenue for operators with net wagering revenue over $1 million.

SA, WA and Tasmania also have a 15 per cent rate but with thresholds above $150,000, while Queensland has a 20 per cent POCT, applying to operators with more than $300,000 in net wagering revenue.

The ACT has the highest POCT rate in the country, 25 per cent, with a threshold of $150,000, while the NT does not impose POCT.

State governments have increasingly used POCT revenue as a mechanism to help fund the racing industry, although the pass-through rate varies from state to state.

A calculation of revenue received by the three racing codes from POCT pass-through shows over $615 million flowing through from the state-based taxes. That is 48.5 per cent of what the state and territory governments collect on POCT overall.

In terms of overall POCT tax receipts per person, the average is $46 across Australia.

The highest POCT tax revenue per person based on jurisdiction is in Victoria at $58, followed by Queensland at $55. In the ACT that figure is $49 while in WA it is $45.

The average POCT revenue generated per NSW resident is $35, while that figure is $33 in SA. Tasmania, which has the lowest POCT revenue of any state or territory, has a per-person rate of $27.

While POCT has proven an area of taxation growth for states, it still represents just 0.84 per cent of overall state and territory-based taxation revenue across Australia.

Queensland has the highest rate of POCT revenue to overall tax revenue at 1.11 per cent, while Victoria is 1 per cent and NSW 0.58 per cent, the lowest of any apart from NT which doesn’t have POCT.

In terms of POCT’s proportion of overall gambling tax revenue, it sits at 11.9 per cent, with the highest proportion of POCT to overall gambling taxes in WA at 33.5 per cent, while it is 26.9 per cent in the ACT.

Victoria (15.1 per cent), Queensland (13.4 per cent) and NSW (7.8 per cent) have varying reliance on POCT as a percentage of overall gambling tax revenue, while SA is 8.9 per cent. Tasmania is again the lowest at 5.3 per cent.

POCT is far from the only tax paid by wagering service providers to state and federal governments. They also pay a range of other business taxes, plus GST, while contributing directly to the racing industry through race fields fees.