Ireland’s racing sector demands higher tax

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) demanded the government to set higher betting taxes.

Ireland.- Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has submitted a petition with the Department of Finance in order to propose higher taxes for the betting sector. The horse racing industry representative demanded an increase of 1.5 percent for the sports betting levy at national level. As it was expected, operators have firmly rejected the proposal.

According to the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), the government should implement a new tax regime for the industry by increasing from 1 percent to 2.5 percent the rate of duty. The higher amount could be passed on to Irish players, as reported by The Journal. Bill’s sponsors commented that higher taxes would “allow the funding of horse racing to be increased to the level necessary to successfully develop the industry.”

Furthermore, the HRI proposed to increase the commission on gross profits in betting exchanges from 15 percent to 37.5 percent, “with the increase being collected from punters.” Operators immediately responded against the project and asked the government to dismiss the proposal.

“So, while the betting market has increased almost five times between 2001 and 2016, the yield to the exchequer from duty has actually fallen,” said Brian Kavanagh, president of HRI. The association argues that a 2.5 percent betting tax would be beneficial for the industry and would still be “one of the lowest rates of betting tax in the world.”