The Betting and Gaming Council called for the Chancellor to take fierce action in order to help the British retail leisure industry, including casino gambling and bookmakers, and to impose further restrictions on the online black market.
The Budget submission made by the Betting and Gaming Council has urged the authorities to consider a reform of business rates. The proposed changes also include steps to allow more small businesses to take advantage of the retail reliefs especially available for small businesses. Apart from that, the proposed reform also includes changes in casino taxation rates, as well as for help to tackle the existing online black market.
The members of the Betting and Gaming Council, which currently include casinos, betting shops and online betting operators, have also reiterated their commitment to making sure that they provide the highest standards in the local betting and gambling services. The companies that are currently part of the BGC employ over 70,000 people across the UK, with the industry’s overall tax contribution has been estimated at £3.2 billion on an annual basis.
Over the past year, the betting and gaming industry has faced significant changes. UK retail betting shops are getting used to the reduction of the maximum stake allowed on gambling machines, which was cut from £100 to £2.
On the other hand, the online gaming duty has risen from 15% to 21% of Gross Gaming Yield, and brick-and-mortar casinos and sports betting operators are also struggling due to a general decline in consumer football on the retail gambling sector in the UK. Since the new maximum stake was unveiled in April 2019, more than 1,500 betting shops have ceased operation, which makes it a rate of five per day.
The BGC Also Calls for Reforms to Tackle Black Online Gambling Market
The newest gambling regulatory body in the UK, the Betting and Gaming Council, is calling for support for the local retail leisure industry, including casino and sports betting operators through a reform regarding business rates. The latter would also include some changes in the rules to permit a large number of small businesses to take advantage of the so-called small business retail relief.
For the time being, only a select number of land-based businesses, which rateable value was estimated at less than £15,000, are eligible for receiving such a retail relief.
As mentioned above, the Betting and Gaming Council has been calling for help in terms of tackling the online black market. According to estimates, the latter is worth about £1.4 billion, which represents about 1.2% of turnover. The black market is considered a massive threat to gambling companies that provide their services under an operating licence. It has also resulted in revenue losses to the Exchequer, not to mention that illegal gambling websites are particularly dangerous to underage individuals and vulnerable people.
- Author
Olivia Cole
