Offshore Gambling Operators to Fall Under Secondary UK Online Gambling Tax
In the recent turn of events, UK officials have decided to investigate the online gambling taxation scenario in the country and have declared that a commissioning body has already been formed for the same. Going by the report, tough times are predicted for offshore online gambling operators as the government plans to impose taxation laws that promise to be more stringent than they have been in the past. Currently, the offshore operators who provide online gambling facilities in Britain have an upper hand on the British operators which has, understandably, disgruntled the local land and online operators. There is a major discrepancy in the profits earned by the offshore and local ventures, thanks to the extremely lenient taxation rules that are levied on the offshore operators. Owing to such rules, offshore ventures have managed to cash in much more than their UK-based operators have been able to do. If the stricter laws are sanctioned, such disparity will soon be a thing of the past.
The relatively easier law that governs offshore gambling ventures was adopted by the UK online gambling legislation in the year 2005. However, since the time of its inception, this has come under scrutiny and has been widely criticised not just by local land-based casinos and betting establishments related to sports but also by several prominent politicians and public figures of the country. With a growing number of people voicing their opinions against this glaring differentiation, the government of UK has been forced to rethink its policies. As a result of this, the government has decided to apply a secondary tax on all such offshore gambling ventures.
The commission that has been formed by the UK officials has been established with the purpose of analysing the relevance, bearing and outcome, should a secondary taxation be implemented on the offshore operators. Views of many of experts from the industry as well as several gambling ventures representatives will be considered by the committee before a conclusion is arrived at. With so much talk surrounding the UK government's impending secondary taxation and licensing implementation, legendary William Hill decided to go ahead with its independent survey. The results have been worth a glance.
The survey revealed that should the taxation be levied on such operators, gamblers and betters in UK would not shy away from playing at unlicensed sites, just to avoid the complications. This survey conducted by William Hill also brought to light the fact that if the tax is 10%, ventures would lose 27% of their revenue while if the tax is 15%, ventures would lose as much as 40% of their revenue. Speaking about the issue, Ralph Topping, CEO, William Hill, said, "Money will always find a way out. More people will go overseas or to fly-by-night, unregulated sites where the consumer is not protected. I hope the Government sees sense on this." For the very purpose of evading high taxes in the UK, William Hill had moved its operations headquarter from the country to Gibraltar. With this new law being passed, William Hill would be back to the mess it was in three years back. However, there are other ventures like Rank PLC that believe giving offshore ventures the advantage of not having to pay tax is against the EU legislation.