UK gambling operators at risk from ‘unfair’ tax rate: report

Global Betting & Gaming Consultants has highlighted that UK online gambling operators risk being overtaken by European rivals because the Government fails to understand the importance of competitive gambling tax.

According to the consultancy, a Europe-wide gambling policy will be implemented and this will mean that players are taxed under the laws of the country they live in rather than the country the operator is based in.

Warwick Bartlett, partner, Global Betting and Gaming Consultancy, according to marketingweek.co.uk, said the UK Government’s tax policy for gambling companies has gone “horribly wrong”.

According to the report, while an agreed Europe-wide measure would create a substantial increase in market growth, it is likely to be matched by increasing overheads as governments take steps to gain control over the industry. The report claims that UK companies will continue to lose market share, and points to an existing deal between the Government and operators that allows the repatriation of UK sports betting websites from offshore so as to achieve gross profits tax as being “unsustainable”. It says foreign websites are able to reinvest the tax saving in their offering and “scoop” the market.