UK Budget offers some relief for gambling industry

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced several relief measures for business to aid the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

UK.- The Chancellor of the Exchequer has presented the UK annual budget in the House of Commons, announcing several measures that offer some relief to the gaming industry.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the extension of business rates relief until the end of June and reduced the rate of value-added tax (VAT) to five per cent for another six months until the end of September. That will be followed by an interim rate of 12.5 per cent for another six months.

The Gaming industry had campaigned for such a measure.

The chancellor also announced a Recovery Loans Scheme under which companies can apply for loans of up to £10m until the end of this year, with the government guaranteeing up to 80 per cent of the lending.

The furlough scheme, widely used by land-based gaming companies, has been extended until the end of September but with reduced contributions from the government.

There is also a Restart Grant Scheme to help high street businesses and hospitality companies recover. Non-essential retail businesses, including casinos, bingo halls, arcades and adult gaming centres, are eligible for the grants.

Gaming duties, the tax paid on gambling machines, will rise in line with the Retail Price Index.