Hike in UK online gambling tax imminent
News on 22 Oct 2018
News on 22 Oct 2018
According to a Financial Times report over the weekend, Philip Hammond, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, is preparing to announce an increase in remote gaming duty on operators in his budget presentation later this month.
The move has been expected by the industry since government slashed the maximum staking levels of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals in retail betting shops earlier this year (see previous reports) and has been looking at other tax options to plug the hole in government tax receipts which the FOBT cuts will leave when implemented.
The FT reports that government aides expect the online tax increase to raise around GBP 1 billion over the next five years as government seeks to replace the GBP 400 million a year in tax receipts which came from FOBTs.
Hammond is expected to announce a range of revenue-raising measures on October 29, as he seeks to present a Budget that will pave the way for an end to years of austerity, according to the FT.
The gaming industry is expecting to see the remote gaming tax rate on GGR to go up from the current 15 percent to between 20 – 25 percent, the newspaper claims (FOBTs are presently taxed at 25 percent).)
The newspaper quotes an unnamed industry source, who said: “This means it’s a double whammy for UK operators because they’ll be hurt by the FOBT move and now this as well.”
The government brought in the remote gaming duty in 2014, insisting that any operator who took bets from UK-based customers had to be licensed by the Gambling Commission. At the time ministers expected to raise GBP 300 million a year, but the industry believes the figure is now about twice that sum.
News on 22 Oct 2018
According to a Financial Times report over the weekend, Philip Hammond, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, is preparing to announce an increase in remote gaming duty on operators in his budget presentation later this month.
The move has been expected by the industry since government slashed the maximum staking levels of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals in retail betting shops earlier this year (see previous reports) and has been looking at other tax options to plug the hole in government tax receipts which the FOBT cuts will leave when implemented.
The FT reports that government aides expect the online tax increase to raise around GBP 1 billion over the next five years as government seeks to replace the GBP 400 million a year in tax receipts which came from FOBTs.
Hammond is expected to announce a range of revenue-raising measures on October 29, as he seeks to present a Budget that will pave the way for an end to years of austerity, according to the FT.
The gaming industry is expecting to see the remote gaming tax rate on GGR to go up from the current 15 percent to between 20 – 25 percent, the newspaper claims (FOBTs are presently taxed at 25 percent).)
The newspaper quotes an unnamed industry source, who said: “This means it’s a double whammy for UK operators because they’ll be hurt by the FOBT move and now this as well.”
The government brought in the remote gaming duty in 2014, insisting that any operator who took bets from UK-based customers had to be licensed by the Gambling Commission. At the time ministers expected to raise GBP 300 million a year, but the industry believes the figure is now about twice that sum.
