Sports betting has been legal in New Zealand since 2020, but there are often a number of hoops one must jump through in order to place wagers in the Land of the Long White Cloud. As is often the case in the wagering industry, sports betting is meticulously regulated by New Zealand’s government, with only one betting site officially allowed by the country’s government.
However, New Zealand also takes a pretty laissez-faire approach to that stipulation: if you don’t like the offerings from the government endorsed sportsbook, there are more than a dozen offshore betting sites that one can use to place their wagers. Here’s a look at the intriguing betting industry in New Zealand, with all the stipulations and regulations you need to know about in order to make the most of your experience in a safe manner.
What Site to Use? Why Does it Matter?
If you’re placing bets in New Zealand, the only official site that you can use as of March 2024 is TAB, formerly known as the New Zealand Racing Board. From its origins in equestrian competition and betting, TAB has expanded to take bets on Formula 1 Racing, the NBA, various boxing and mixed martial arts consortiums like UFC and, of course, the racing offerings where they got their start.
While TAB has the reputation of having much more limited offerings than other betting sites you can use, they’re working to improve their capacity each year. Right now they’re taking parlay wagers, which means you can string together a series of bets on a single ticket in order to increase your chances of winning big. They may not always offer the wide variety of prop bets like over/unders for individual players or postseason awards races yet, but it’s a step in the right direction, indicating that more additions could be coming soon.
Another benefit of placing bets with TAB is that the government-run sites often go above and beyond to pay it forward with the money they raise: if you lose a bet, it’ll help fund National Sporting Organizations (NSOs), ensuring a thriving future for New Zealand sports.
Geolocation
If you’ve taken mobile wagers in another country like the United States or Canada, you’re almost certainly familiar with the important role of geolocation in placing your bets. Because different states and provinces have different laws regarding the legality of gambling or how much money you’ll have to deduct in taxes, the apps you use are going to make triply sure that you’re in the location you say you are, requesting location access, a connection to WiFi and—if you’re placing bets using a laptop or others form of computer—they’ll ask you to download a widget that confirms your location, making it so that bettors can’t use technologies like VPNs in order to fudge their location and place an illegal bet.
After seeing how seriously other countries take the issue of one’s location, it’s something of a culture shock to see just how “hands off” the Kiwi government is. Unlike the US where using an offshore site would break half a dozen laws and tax codes, you’re perfectly able to place bets with sites that aren’t registered in New Zealand. They won’t be licensed by the Kiwi government, but as long as they’re legitimate establishments in their nation of origin, it’s fair game. There are also online casinos in New Zealand, which makes for a great vacation opportunity, and those are fully endorsed by the government: it’s just the mobile sites where the state takes a back seat.
Tax Rates
As one might expect, placing bets with offshore bookies can create some interesting situations when it comes time to pay taxes.
Much like geolocation, taxation on sports betting in New Zealand is an absolute free for all. Even at the government run sites like TAB NZ, you aren’t required to pay tax on your gambling winnings. The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department knows that you’re more likely to lose a bet than you are to win it, so unless your sole source of employment and profit is the gambling industry—whether as a professional gambler or as one of the few licensed sportsbooks themselves—you won’t have to pay a cent in taxes on the money that you earn.
It’ll be interesting to see if that hands off approach changes in the coming years, given how profitable the gambling industry is: whether the government begins to regulate mobile sportsbooks and levy taxes in order to get their share of the prize, or if they’re content to stay out of it.