The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) revealed that UK-licensed gambling operators will face a new fee structure in the industry. As announced by the UKGC, the new fee structure is to be officially released on April 6th, 2017. The Commission published a notice on its website, providing more details on the results of its consultation with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport over the proposed license fee structure mentioned above.
As a result, more than 1,900 companies would benefit from the fees, as their tax payments would be reduced. However, taxes would grow for 75 gambling operators. On the other hand, around 1,000 operators would face slight changes or no change at all.
The new fee structure would be backed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which would work in collaboration with the UK Gambling Commission. The two authorities have been negotiating and discussing eventual upcoming changes in the Gambling Act of 2014, and more specifically, in its Licensing and Advertising chapter. According to the UK gambling regulatory authority, the new license law is expected to offset the overall fee burden in the gambling industry as a whole by more than 10%.
Under the point-of-consumption tax, the web-based gambling operators on the territory of the UK will be forced to pay 15% based on the their online revenue. When it comes to the complete fee structure that is to be implemented, it is expected to be based on the gross gambling yield of the operators. As revealed by the UK Gambling Commission, this way the costs will be recovered proportionately to operators, depending on their type and size.
An increase of no less than 140% in the payments will be faced by 75 to 100 gambling operators in the country. On the other hand, the 20 largest operators are expected to contribute with annual payments estimated to £164,000. When it comes to the rest of the operators, they are most likely to have their fees reduced by 2% to 75%.
The newly-established gambling operators will benefit from the situation. The UK Gambling Commission revealed that the companies that are to be issued their first license in the UK will get a discount amounting to 25% over their frist year of activity.
Another change in the regulatory body’s work is that a new “game host” license is to be issued. This license is primarily focused on business-to-business suppliers that host their own games through business-to-consumer online casino or bingo websites. Such suppliers will be required to hold both a business-to-business and a business-to-consumer license.
- Author
Daniel Williams
