The Canada Revenue Agency and the government of Nova Scotia are in a legal battle over the agency’s claim that the province owes more than million in sales tax on revenue generated by video lottery terminals between 2009 and 2013 in First Nations casinos.
The government of Nova Scotia filed an appeal last November in the case. Court filings show the province argued its agent, Atlantic Lottery Corporation Inc., rented the terminals to several tribes who in turn kept all the profits. The First Nations renting the terminals paid weekly administration and rental fees to the ALC. According to the appeal, “The Atlantic Lottery Corporation simply rented or leased VLTs to the bands’ respective gaming commissions. ALC has responsibility simply to service and replace these machines as required. At no relevant time did ALC accept a bet in relation to the games of chance of VLTs on reserves.”
In a reply filed last month, the federal attorney general argued that the province “stood to win or lose from bets placed in the authorized VLTs.” The government argued that the bets were placed with the province and its agent, and that all revenue generated by the VLTs actually belonged to the province.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil stated, “We believe that what we did was within the law with our First Nations communities. We would like to see the federal government step up and work with our First Nations communities.”
Nova Scotia Finance Minister Karen Casey said if the province wins the appeal, it wants to be reimbursed for the $53 million it already voluntarily paid. “We’ll wait until the courts make their decision, but we’re not going to put ourselves in a negative position,” she said.
