Victor Chandler Rubbishes UK Budget Betting Tax Plans

Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

05 March 2001

Victor Chandler, who prompted the flight abroad by big bookmakers when he started offering British punters tax free bets from Gibraltar two years ago, has now openly dismissed the Government's plans to entice them back again by converting the UK's 9% duty on winnings into a 15% tax on gross profits. He won't accept the Chancellor's proposed bargain in exchange for closing down his offshore operations, and he doesn't believe that his competitors will either, whatever they now say.

"The stable door has been opened and the horse has bolted," said the famous bookmaker, chairman of Victor Chandler International. He claimed that the 15% tax "equates to a 3% betting duty - and that will be passed on to the punter. The punter will always suffer. Meanwhile, VCI offers as good a service but with better odds. People are still going to find us, even if government restricts our advertising."

Estimates of the European on-line betting market (not including gaming) range as high as £5bn within five years. This figure sounds low: UK betting turnover is currently worth £7 billion a year, and will presumably migrate largely to the Internet within five years whether onshore or offshore. So there is much to play for and the UK budget this week will see the Chancellor setting out his stall to attract the maximum possible amount of betting turnover to the UK in competition with offshore jurisdictions and other countries which also manage to overcome their moral scruples in the chase for tax revenues.

Recommended