By Josie Clarke, PA Consumer Affairs Correspondent, and Chronicle staff<\/p>\n
The UK Government should not \u201ccave in to industry scaremongering\u201d and tax online betting games at a rate that reflects their harm, MPs\u00a0have\u00a0said\u00a0in a\u00a0report\u00a0ahead\u00a0of a UK budget statement later this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The report was met with disappointment in Gibraltar, amid concern a hike in UK gaming taxes could\u00a0have a knock-on impact here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the report, the Treasury Committee in the House of Commons said online betting can lead to harmful, addictive, high frequency gambling that brings no benefits to people,\u00a0families\u00a0and communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It urged the UK Government to \u201cmore sharply recognise that different types of gambling inflict different levels of harm\u201d, and said this should be reflected in its approach to taxation.<\/p>\n
The committee\u2019s report said there was \u201canother side to the industry\u201d from the various forms of gambling, ranging from seaside arcades and bingo through to betting on the races and football, safely enjoyed by many people.<\/p>\n
The shift towards online betting games has picked up pace in recent years, with the proportion of the \u201cgross gambling yield\u201d associated with remote\u00a0gaming\u00a0rising from 12% in 2014 to 44% in 2024.<\/p>\n
The committee, which called for evidence on the taxation of gambling as part of a series of sessions looking at decisions facing the Chancellor in her 2025 Budget, said it rejected the industry\u2019s assertion that gambling caused no social ills.<\/p>\n
It also heard evidence which it said both supported and challenged the gambling industry\u2019s concern that increased taxation could drive more customers to the black market.<\/p>\n
The committee said it recommended that the Government should examine how to tackle any black market gambling and consider whether additional anti-avoidance measures were needed.<\/p>\n
Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: \u201cWhether at a local racetrack or a seaside arcade, for many people, gambling is a fun pastime enjoyed with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, we heard that the industry is hiding its more insidious parts behind the friendly facade of its traditional, cultural forms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too many people, the highly addictive and harmful nature of online betting games has seriously impacted their lives and the lives of those around them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impacts of problem gambling in our communities are plain to see, and the industry\u2019s boldfaced claim to our inquiry that it does no social harm is staggering.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnline betting games are extracting huge amounts of money from people who have been funnelled into the most addictive, harmful corners of the industry via their love of sports, or the occasional game of bingo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are urging the Government not to cave in to industry scaremongering and to tax online betting games at a rate that reflects the level of harm they inflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
The debate is being closely monitored from Gibraltar amid concern that any increase in remote gaming taxes could have an adverse knock-on impact on companies licensed in Gibraltar with UK-facing business.<\/p>\n
Any impact on those businesses, which already contribute over \u00a3750m to the UK exchequer, could in turn hit tax revenues in Gibraltar, where gaming companies accounted for 30% of the Rock\u2019s GDP, 3400 jobs and around 50% of total corporate tax receipts for last year.<\/p>\n
Nigel Feetham, the Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry, has in recent weeks met with senior UK figures including Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, to ensure Gibraltar\u2019s position is properly understood ahead of any decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Treasury Select Committee\u2019s recommendations are disappointing, though not entirely surprising given the tone of the hearing,\u201d Mr Feetham told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Committee\u2019s brief report reinforces the impression of its stance towards the gaming sector and appears to recommend a higher level of taxation than even the industry is anticipating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will redouble our efforts and continue to focus on addressing the substantive issues we have already highlighted.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the evidence hearing late last month, the Treasury committee heard evidence from Stephen Hodgson, the chair of the tax committee at the Betting and Gaming Council, who explained how Gibraltar\u2019s gaming sector had evolved over the years to become \u201can international centre of excellence\u201d.<\/p>\n
He addressed too concerns about Gibraltar\u2019s lower level of corporation tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we tend to find, because the UK has been a global success story in terms of betting and gaming, is that we have lots of businesses headquartered in the UK paying UK corporation tax, but also having operations in a number of other jurisdictions like Gibraltar, where they will pay local corporation tax in those places,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what you’ll also find is that because these businesses, these subsidiaries in other jurisdictions, tend to be part of a bigger global group, there will also be intercompany activity which results in more corporation tax being paid in the UK because they’re part of a multinational family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those points were reflected in the committee\u2019s report, as were concerns higher taxes risked driving players to unregulated sites.<\/p>\n
Reacting to the Treasury committee\u2019s report this week, Betting and\u00a0Gaming\u00a0Council chief executive Grainne Hurst said: \u201cFurther tax increases on the regulated online sector risk undermining consumer protections by pushing players towards the unsafe, unregulated black market \u2013 while reducing Treasury revenues and cutting the vital funding our members provide to British sport, including horseracing, football, rugby league, darts and snooker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have always recognised that betting and\u00a0gaming\u00a0can lead to harm for a small minority, which is why our members are investing more than ever in safer gambling \u2013 including new stake limits on online\u00a0gaming, enhanced affordability checks, swift data-driven interventions, robust advertising safeguards, and funding for a new \u00a3100 million statutory levy for research, prevention, and treatment to tackle problem gambling and related harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Hurst added: \u201cBGC members contribute \u00a36.8 billion to the economy, generate \u00a34 billion in tax, and support 109,000 jobs, while facing an effective tax rate of up to 80% when duties are combined with corporation tax, business rates, national insurance, VAT, and the new statutory and economic crime levies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch is at stake in the Chancellor\u2019s Budget. Get it wrong, and it\u2019s not just jobs and growth that will suffer, it\u2019s safer gambling itself. To protect consumers and support a safer, stronger industry, we must keep gamblers playing within the regulated market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Josie Clarke, PA Consumer Affairs Correspondent, and Chronicle staff The UK Government should not \u201ccave in to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":{"0":"post-282328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}