The situation with the gambling market in Ireland is getting more interesting by the hour. A certain filing with recommendations has been officially submitted from the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) to the Government’s review of local betting taxes.
The Government has been reviewing the country’s current tax system, and now the Irish Bookmakers Association has urged the local authorities to create a betting duty regime that is fair enough to the local retail sector but at the same time remains competitive on a global scale.
The examination of the tax system has been initiated as part of the Tax Strategy Group process. The first steps towards a change in the betting duty regime were made back in 2015, when the competent authorities have been urged to release a special tax regime especially designed for remote bookmakers and betting exchanges. According to experts, such a regime is to likely increase the rates of betting duty on government revenues as well as on the Irish bookmaking industry.
According to the Irish Bookmakers Association, the county’s retail bookmaking industry has experienced a strong decline over the past ten years. Last year, the total reported stakes amounted to €2.8 billion, while in 2007, they amounted to €3.6 billion. The overall number of brick-and-mortar betting shops was also greatly reduced. The local bookmakers association has made a commentary on the decline, saying that it had been facilitated by economic collapse, revenue losses due to illegal companies that operate in the country, harsh competition from online betting operators, increased fixed costs, etc.
The Irish Bookmakers Association shared its opinion that all gambling sectors should be involved in the betting tax regime, which was extended to cover the online gambling sector back in 2015. Also, according to the IBA, the land-based betting sector should be supported by the new tax system due to the sector’s massive economic role to the country.
The Association made a recommendation that the local Tax Strategy Group should consider to reduce the current turnover tax from 1% to 0.25% for the betting outlets which generate an annual revenue of no more than €2 million.
Recently, the Irish Government has been focused on making significant reforms in the country’s gambling laws, which have been considered outdated. Back in 2013, a draft scheme of the Gambling Control Bill was first published, as the local authorities have been seeking to enact a modern legislation that would make the legislative and regulatory framework of Ireland more up to date, both when it comes to all types of retail and online gambling.
As Casino Guardian has reported earlier, the Government approved the so-called Courts and Civil Liabilities Bill, which seeks to set the legal age of 18 years for all types of gambling activities in Ireland. The new piece of legislation was aimed at making amendments to the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956.
- Author
Daniel Williams
