Irish betting tax proposals gets ministerial backing

The Irish racing industry is once again angling for an increase in betting tax with the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney, saying he would support such an increase.
The Irish Government is currently involved in an initiative to reform its archaic gambling laws which will include the regulation of online gambling and there have been various proposals to increase the betting tax from one percent to two percent which to date have not come to fruition.
Coveney said that he believed that the Department of Finance would find it difficult to continue significant state payments to the Horse and Greyhound Fund in the current financial climate and that the industry should be financed entirely by an increased betting tax.  Exchequer subsidies to the industry amounted to Euro 31 million in 2009 and Euro 28 million in 2010 according to a report in the Irish Post.
The Government is said to be publishing legislation in the very near future which will see the one percent betting tax extended to all online betting outlets.
“Once we deal with the issue of extending the tax to online betting, we should consider the rate”, the Minister concluded.

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