Online-Casinos – In Europe and the United Kingdom there is a battle developing between the government of the U.K and online gambling operators located in some offshore jurisdiction that offers their services to punters in the U.K.
The government of the United Kingdom has decided that they will impose a new tax regime on operators that offer services to punters there no matter where the operators are located. Currently the U.K. online gambling market is worth over £2 billion a year, and the government wants to bring in another £300 million through the new gambling rules.
Operators will have to pay taxes to the U.K. Treasury come December of next year when the new laws come into effect. Some of the country’s largest gambling firms with operations based offshore include William Hill, Betfair, Bwin.Party and Ladbrokes. Should they not comply with the newest tax levy there are large fines and possible sentences of up to seven years in prison. The government is introducing the penalties for non compliance ahead of the tax.
Clive Hawkswood, the Chief Executive Officer of the Remote Gambling Association commented, “We knew it was coming,” Hawkswood added, “The focus for us now is on trying to get the actual rate of the tax reduced.”
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid was quoted in the Guardian newspaper as saying, “It is unacceptable that gambling companies can avoid UK taxes by moving offshore, and the government is taking decisive action to ensure this can no longer happen in the future.”
Javid also said that these tax changes would ensure that remote gambling operators who offer their services to punters in the U.K. make a fair contribution to public finances. The new tax regime will force internet wagering firms to pay a 15% remote gaming tax, pool betting tax or general betting tax on profits they gain from the U.K. wagering public.
Some of the larger firms mentioned earlier that originally were located in the U.K. moved to Gibraltar where the tax on operations is at 1% and is capped at a reasonable £425,000.
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