Gambling is probably one of the oldest activities in human history. However, it’s constantly evolving, so even these days it isn’t 100% regulated. Considering all the gambling possibilities, it seems impossible to regulate the whole industry. Casinos and other gambling establishments will always find a way to avoid rules and make their business even more profitable. These things became even worse once online casinos appeared. Therefore, it’s no wonder that most countries have laws that are pretty fuzzy and unclear, which allow different kinds of interpretations. New Zealand is no exception.
New Zealand Regulations
Fortunately, New Zealand is a quite gambling-friendly country. The whole field is regulated by the Gambling Act. According to the law, online gambling, poker and sports betting are allowed if a casino operator is located outside New Zealand. If the operator’s website is located in New Zealand, gambling is forbidden. Therefore, the only thing you have to take care of is to make sure that a certain operator is located overseas. At this moment, there are no operators on New Zealand soil, so you are 100% safe, no matter which operator you choose.
Such a way of regulation makes things pretty simple. Still, there are some things you should be aware of. Some of them are good, others are not. When it comes to good things, the best thing is that you don’t have to pay any taxes on your winnings. According to the law, all online gambling winnings are excluded from annual income tax reports.
There are numerous online casinos that accept players from New Zealand these days. Still, my recommendation would always be to stick to the most recognized names in the business. Simply, you can’t be too careful these days.
Is there any Drawbacks?
Of course, there are some drawbacks as well. The first thing that comes to mind is that, since online casinos must be based abroad, there is none of them are under New Zealand’s jurisdiction. Therefore, players may feel a little bit unprotected. So, if any problem with online casino occurs, who is going to solve it?
Fortunately, there is something that is called the license regulator. It regulates gambling of remote online casinos. Simply said, a certain online casino needs to obtain the license in order to accept players from New Zealand legitimately. Therefore, if there is any kind of problem between player and online casino, the regulator takes responsibility to solve it. If a player is damaged in any way, operators can be suspended, their license can be revoked and even some legal acts could be taken. This actually works in practice, so we could say that New Zealand players are protected fairly well.
What Legal Actions can be Taken? Not only that legal actions will be taken but more importantly, the whole gambling community will be informed about violations and bad business policy of a certain operator. This seems more important than legal actions, as it will keep players away from online casinos with a bad reputation. Therefore, all casinos are highly interested in delivering first-class service, in order to attract more and more players.
