David Walsh, the benefactor behind Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art, has spoken out on his legal tiff with Australian tax authorities. Walsh, along with sports/race-betting über-whale Zeljko Ranogajec, belonged to a shadowy outfit known as the Punters Club that reportedly contributed $1b annually to TAB turnover. In late 2011, the Australian Tax Office informed Club members their past tax filings were being recalculated to include their betting earnings as professional income. The potential penalty was enough for Ranogajec to decamp to the Isle of Man, but Walsh is a little more embedded in his native land. This week, Walsh revealed the taxman is asking him for $37.7m in back taxes plus interest. Walsh says Australian law has never treated winnings as taxable, and if the tax office wants to change the law, Walsh has no problem anteing up going forward, but he intends to fight any attempt at a retroactive tax. Tax lawyers believe the case could set a precedent, in that a tax on winnings could result in punters being allowed to write off losses.
While the tax office is exposing mega whales, Aussie gambling mainstay Tabcorp is apologizing after accidentally exposing the names of countless rank and file customers via an email promotion. The Herald Sun reports that the bulk email come-on, which offered a $20 free bet for participating in a research test, also contained the names of every other person to whom it was sent. A TAB Sportsbet spokesperson acknowledged the cockup and apologized “for any inconvenience caused.” The Australian Privacy Foundation said it was “just extraordinary that companies don’t learn these things.”