The gambling industry in the UK is getting ready for big changes as supporters are pushing the Labour administration to move forward with its intentions to impose an annual fee of £100 million on gaming companies. The previous Conservative administration suggested this required payment as part of a larger package of reforms detailed in the Gambling Act whitepaper. It is intended to replace the existing voluntary approach.
While traditional betting shops and land-based casinos will pay 0.4% of their sales to the levy, internet casinos and remote betting platforms will be required to contribute 1% of their earnings. If a casino holds a license from the UK Gambling Commission in addition to licenses from offshore jurisdictions like Malta, it does not mean that it is automatically free from UK restrictions.
What is your take on this info guys?
This is interesting @dany. Has the government said what it will do with the additional tax revenue that it raises from these types of reforms? When I was living in the UK some years back, the government would explain what was happening with the funds that they raised from the National Lottery. I know this is different, but it would help to know what they intend to do with the money.
I am assuming that none of these changes will affect gamblers? Years ago they abolished the need for gamblers to pay taxes on their bets and charged the bookies for it instead. As a gambler, I was very happy with this change but I had a friend who owned a small number of betting shops and he wasn't so happy. We discussed it at length and in the end he agreed that the tax burden should not be the responsibility of individual gamblers.
@graham Nothing is confirmed yet, and there is no information on what will happen with these taxes. Do you think if this law is accepted and applied, some of the platforms that are operating with UKGC and other licenses will continue to operate without the UK license?
@dany Thanks for the update. Yes, I was thinking that if the tax burden is too big for those with a UKGC license that they may choose to switch to another and offer their services to UK players as an international casino. The government needs to be aware of this and implement a sensible amount of taxation to avoid this situation.
It will be interesting to see how this develops. Thanks for breaking the news on this - I really am out of touch with things going on in my home country at times 🙁
@graham I think this new law is a double-edged sword. If the tax is too big some of the platform can let go of the UKGC license, which is surely a negative outcome.
I think it is much better to pay a fixed amount rather than paying a percentage of what you earn. But I think 100 million is a little bit too much, in my opinion they should do a 'trial' fee first so that casinos can estimate whether they can afford to pay or not OR they should implement a tax bracket, for example if a casino earns an x amount of money, they should pay a corresponding fee for that because I think not all casinos earn the same annually.
@evcj_ % is always better than fixed fee. Big casinos will have no problem paying, but what about the small ones?
@dany This is true. Small casinos will reduce in number or perish now as that is a huge amount to pay right now. Let's observe if there will be more reforms added
Too many outfits in the UK operate out of Gibraltar or Malta in a bit to reduce their tax bill and given the huge gambling industry in the UK, it makes sense that they should be paying their fair share.
@lewisw I agree with the principle of what you are saying but if there are legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes you can be sure that bookies and online casinos will take full advantage of them
The fact that the new regulations do not exempt casinos with offshore licenses means as long as you're operating in the UK, you'll have to pay the levy. There is a possibility it will affect the profitability of casinos. It's highly likely casinos will be looking for ways to circumvent the new levy, or perhaps there'll be lobbying legislators to remove the new levy.
I think it’s a move aimed at making gambling companies pay their fair share and improving consumer protection. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects the industry and its customers in the long run.
