As threats of legal action ring off, Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest yesterday said that he is open to having a rational conversation with  Web Shop Gaming operators about the way forward.

The seven day window  the gaming house operators gave the government to meet with them has since closed.  However Mr. Turnquest insisted that the government is firm in its stance that it’s decision is fair.

He said, “there’s a lot of misinformation that is going on out there with respect to how we are taxing them and what we have contemplated. The reality is that this is not a 50 per cent tax that they’re out there. This is ,infact, a very graduated tax that most of the industry will see no more than a nine per cent increase in their taxation.”

He added, “there are a few big player that will see a bit more of a tax, but again if you look at what this industry is taking from the communities that they operate in; you have to appreciate that there is an inequity in what has been allowed to happen from the beginning.”

The Deputy Prime Minister then reiterated that it cannot be right that the seven operators benefit significantly to the expense of the government and the people.

Seventy-three percent of participants in a new survey released by Bahamian market and research firm Public Domain Sunday saw the new taxes for web shops as unfair.

Mr. Turnquest  said, “ we’re just trying to create equity ,and all of this distraction that is going on with respect to all of the side issues; again, we can’t be concerned with that. We have to be focused on what we’re trying to do. We know that what we’re trying to do is pure intent and that it is the right thing to do.”

The minister also said that if the gaming operators intend to take legal action the matter will then be passed on to the office of the Attorney General.