Irish gambling tax to be reviewed

The government has accepted a review of the betting tax would increase from 1% to 2% in 2019.

Ireland.- Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has ordered a report detailing the impact of the tax hike that will hit the industry in January 2019. The report has to be presented to the Finance Committee by the end of the next quarter.

Last week, bookmakers started lobbying for an alternative plan where the tax would be levied on gross profits instead of turnover. The alternative plan, proposed by TD Michael Healy-Rae, establishes that shops would need to pay a 10% tax on profits, while the number would double for online operators to 20%.

Donohe said during a debate on Thursday night that Healy-Rae’s proposal could be considered as it would raise the tax but wouldn’t hurt the gambling industry as much. A chairperson from the Irish Bookmakers Association said that they predicted that there would be 300 shops closed when the tax is enacted and the loss of at least 1,500 jobs.

It is believed that this new proposal is supported by several politicians, as it would generate €25 million and protect thousands of jobs.

“I will make the point that when we engaged with the sector on this model the last time there was not complete support for it. We would not be in the situation of trying to figure out how to broaden our tax base if we were not debating the levy now being introduced in the absence of agreement on how else this could be done,” said Donohoe.