Paddy Power Betfair hit by legacy tax obligations

Germany’s Hessen Fiscal Court has ruled against Paddy Power Betfair plc’s (PPB) appeal of a 2012 German tax assessment relating to the Betfair Exchange, which operated in Germany until November 2012.

The Fiscal Court deemed that a tax liability of approximately Euro 40 million (GBP 36 million) along with accrued interest is payable.

The second case involves a retroactive tax assessment for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 periods relating to paddypower.com’s Greek interim licence.

PPB disputes the Euro 15 million (GBP 13 million) assessment saying – “This is substantially higher (by multiples) than the total cumulative revenues ever generated by paddypower.com in Greece.”

While PPB paid the liability last month, the group said it is confident it has grounds to appeal and intends doing so.