BHA launches #AxeTheRacingTax petition at Glorious Goodwood
The horseracing body aims to build more opposition to proposed changes to UK gambling taxes.
UK.- As the Glorious Goodwood race meeting gets underway in Chichester today, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is calling for the public to back British racing and sign its #AxeTheRacingTax petition. It’s launched the campaign in a bid to oppose UK Treasury plans to overhaul gambling tax under a new Remote Gaming and Betting Duty.
The BHA cited new research that predicts a £330m revenue hit to the horseracing industry in the first five years, with 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year if the tax changes go through. It says that Yorkshire alone, home to nine racecourses including Doncaster and York, could suffer a £37m economic hit in the first five years, with 342 jobs immediately at risk, from trainers and stable staff to local pub owners and hospitality workers.
The body stressed that British horseracing contributes £4.1bn to the economy annually and that over 5 million people attend races every year.
The government’s proposal is to merge the three current separate tax categories – Remote Gaming Duty, General Betting Duty, and Pool Betting Duty – into a new single category termed Remote Betting and Gaming Duty (RBGD). That could effectively raise the tax rate on horseracing betting from 15 to 21 per cent, the BHA fears, although the rate depends on the Treasury’s decision. The BHA is warning that this rate would cost the industry £66m a year.
The current Remote Gaming Duty, which covers online slots, poker, bingo and similar, is levied at 21 per cent of gross profits based on a place of consumption (POC) model. General Betting Duty varies depending on vertical: fixed-odds betting is taxed at 15 per cent, sports spread betting at 10 per cent, and financial spread betting at 3 per cent. Pool Betting Duty is charged at 15 per cent on gross profits, applicable to sports pools only (excluding horse and greyhound racing).
Brant Dunshea, CEO at the BHA, stated: “This latest tax bombshell from the Government, if followed through, poses one of the gravest risks to horseracing the sport has ever seen. The horseracing industry is already in a precarious financial position, and the latest research provides a much more catastrophic forecast than we first thought. We’re talking thousands of jobs at risk across the supply chain, severely impacted towns and communities, and the irreversible decline of the country’s second most popular sport.
“Together as an entire industry, we’re asking the British public for support in calling on the Government to rethink this policy and stop undermining a much-loved part of British heritage and culture. It’s time to axe the racing tax and back British horseracing.”
Changes at the BHA
Meanwhile, the BHA has confirmed that Lord Allen of Kensington will start work in his post as the new chair of the British Horseracing Authority from September 1. The BHA board has also agreed that work should start towards the establishment of a single independent board of directors. This will oversee a single BHA executive led by a CEO.
The incoming chair and the Board will therefore begin the next steps towards creating an independent board, including experienced individuals from the industry, through a period of transition and subject to ratification by the members.
David Jones, chair of the BHA’s Nominations Committee and interim BHA chair said: “The BHA Board has made clear its commitment to pressing ahead with the establishment of an independent Board of Directors. We look forward to working with Lord Allen to support the industry as it takes this important step forward towards a strong future.”
Lord Allen said: “I am delighted we have agreed to a process towards a new independent BHA Board, and I look forward to formally starting in September. Horseracing has a strong future. There is work to do, but I am in no doubt as to the passion and commitment of the many thousands of people who make up our industry.”
