The Star Entertainment Group has settled its tax disputes with the Australian Taxation Office regarding historic Goods and Services Tax (GST) and withholding tax treatment of payments to junket operators.
It also marks another occasion where the operator, under new leadership following its acquisition by Bally’s Corporation and Investment Holdings last year, hopes to move on from its previous regulatory and compliance issues and towards suitability.
The dispute settlement relates to the periods between October 2013 and August 2017 (in relation to the GST treatment of rebates) and between July 2014 and June 2020 (in relation to the appropriate method for calculating withholding tax). Dealings with junket operators were stopped by the operator back in October 2020.
According to the operator’s half-year 2026 financial statement, the Taxation Office accused The Star of underpaying GST on rebates and commissions paid to junkets, amounting to approximately AUS$157.9m (approximately €95.9m), with $81.9m primary tax and $76m interest.
A separate dispute was also launched for a further $8.4m claim related to withholding tax on junket rebate payments, with $6.4m primary penalty and $2m interest.
Of the disputed amount, approximately $88m (approximately €53.5m) had previously been paid to the Commissioner of Taxation. However, The Star will now be refunded approximately $33m.
As a result, The Star has announced it will take a charge of approximately $55m for the year-end 30 June 2026.
Star Entertainment NICC fine
While the settlement brings an end to one piece of regulatory scrutiny, another emerged last month from the New South Wales (NSW) Independent Casino Commission (NICC).
The Star Sydney was handed fines totalling $10m and an enforceable undertaking to set a further $5m aside to bolster its financial crime risk management operations technology.
A release from the NICC stated that thousands of breaches at The Star Sydney were investigated by the Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) last year, resulting in four separate disciplinary matters that led to the casino regulator issuing the following orders:
- $1.5m penalty – For allowing customers to continuously gamble without a break longer than the prescribed time limits between May 2024 and April 2025.
- $3m penalty – For allowing the conversion of casino reward points to cash involving at least 1,898 patrons between December 2018 and November 2023.
- $500,000 penalty – For the failure to prevent entry by an excluded patron on nine occasions between February and May 2024.
- $5m penalty and an enforceable undertaking for a further $5m – For systemic failures in financial crime risk operations between July 2023 and September 2025. The $5m enforceable undertaking will be held in a dedicated remediation fund to support The Star’s technological capability uplift to comply with regulatory obligations related to its financial crime risk management operations.
Bruce Mathieson Jnr, Group Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director at The Star, said: “We take our obligations to abide by gaming regulations seriously and appreciate that the NICC has allowed us to pay these penalties progressively up until 30 June 2027 while we continue to invest in our technology uplift. These events occurred between December 2018 and September 2025 and prior to the commencement of the current leadership.
“We will continue to engage constructively with the NICC in respect of The Star Sydney as we work through our remediation program. I am confident that we are making progress.”
