UK government announces plan to increase taxes

The Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed plans to increase taxes paid by offshore gambling companies.

UK.- The UK gambling industry has been waiting for new regulations for quite some time, especially for fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). Chancellor Philip Hammond was pressured for months to announce a decision on when the reduction would take place, and he has now revealed that besides pushing the official date to October 2019, offshore gambling companies will see an increase in taxes to compensate for that loss.

The measure is set to help balance the lost tax revenue from cutting the maximum amount that can be staked on FOBTs. Starting from next year, offshore online gambling companies will be hit with higher taxes to compensate for that loss, and the number will be increased from 15% to 21%.

“I can confirm that we will increase Remote Gaming Duty on online games of chance, to 21% in order to fund the loss of revenue as we reduce FOBT stakes to two pounds,” Hammond told the parliament.

The cut in the maximum stake will not take effect until October 2019, according to the soon to be introduced budget, which will result in a €1 billion windfall for bookmakers. Chancellor Philip Hammond initially considered implementing the cut in April 2020 because the Treasury had concerns regarding the €500 million that it is set to lose every year from taxes. However, it is believed that he chose 2019 following public complaints from several politicians.