경주ㆍ마권세의 특성 분석을 통한 도박과세의 재검토

A Note on the Pari-mutuel Tax

In this paper, we address that the intrinsic characteristics of the pari-mutuel tax on horse-racing should be reviewed. Until now, the pari-mutuel tax has been usually classified as a kind of consumption tax or excise tax. But we assert that the pari-mutuel tax has some sorts of characteristics of a capital gains tax, not a consumption tax. It is why the bettor’s purchase of the pari-mutuel ticket shoud be considered as a composite behavior that is consisted of consumption and investment. If the purchase behavior is considered as a pure consumption, there exists a contradiciton that some bettor, even though small number, enjoy the big capital gains as well as joy of consumption by their participating in a race. Namely, consumption can only give us a kind of joy or utility as an economic terms, not capital gains. Also we calculate the effective tax rate of pari-mutuel tax on horse-racing, and claim that the effective tax rate is much higher than that has been thought when we assume the pari-mutuel tax as a consumption tax, and the effective tax rate is similiar to that of interest income tax when we assume the pari-mutuel tax as a capital gains tax. The consumpton expenditure in horse-racing is assumed as the production which horse-racing occur. It is the same as the total value-added produced in horse-racing, the earnings by jockey, horse-owner, trainer, the staffs of horse-racing association, the workers in the relating industries such as live-stock feed, horse-riding, meat processing, and horse importing etc. In summery, we conclude that the pari-mutuel tax should be considered as a tax which has a kind of characteristics both as a consumption tax and as a capital gains tax, particularly stronger as a capital gains tax.