Brit MPs to hear views on new gambling laws next week

The British government’s implementation plan for the introduction of secondary licensing and taxation on offshore internet gambling operators takes another step forward on Tuesday next week when the Department of Media, Culture and Sports Select Committee meets to consider and discuss the latest draft of the point-of-consumption based amendments to gambling laws.

One of the witnesses that the Committee will hear is the Remote Gaming Association, a trade body that counts as its members most of the major online gambling companies in the British market.

Another will be the Sports Betting Group, an organisation interested in maintaining the integrity of sports associations, and illustrating still further the diversity of opinions, the CARE charity.

The hearing is important because it can influence the final form of the laws that will in future govern the activities of online operators wishing to access the UK market.

The committee is comprised of both Lords and Commons members, and has a mandate to make recommendations and suggestions for changes to the draft, although these are not necessarily binding on the government.

Government plans at present are to implement the finally approved law around December 2014 . There’s much to do before then, with the levels of taxation still under consideration by Treasury and passage through parliament still to be achieved.

Taxation will be of critical importance, as high tax levels in a competitive environment have in the past pushed major UK gambling companies to relocate their online operations offshore in more tax-friendly jurisdictions, a strategy that will certainly be impacted by the point-of-consumption definition in the new law.

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