Flutter Entertainment has warned the government against tax rises as the atmosphere within UK gambling intensifies ahead of the budget.
Sebastian Butterworth, Director of Racing Strategy at Flutter UKI, emphasised that the touted rises will have a significant impact on future investments in racing.
He stated: “Any increase in gambling tax will have a profound effect on funding for racing – be that a rise in betting duty or a tax raid on people who play games like online bingo and poker.
“We are already having to reconsider certain investments in UK racing, and we urge the Government to reconsider.”
Battle lines being drawn
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) set out its stall against the rises – confirming a strike will take place on 10 September, as UK racing looks to send its message to the government.
It’s an unprecedented step, but one that the BHA has described as critical to the future of the sport, as the fight against the tax hike gets the backing of major UK operator, Flutter.
The UK Betting and Gaming Council has come out in criticism over strike action set to disrupt the gambling industry in the UK next month.
It is a move that has been described by the BGC as a ‘futile political gesture’, despite it marking the first time in British racing history that meetings have been cancelled as a direct response to government policy.
The BGC stated: “We are concerned that futile political gestures will only antagonise the Government and frustrate punters instead of delivering a solution to a shared challenge facing both racing and betting.
“We want to work with racing constructively to prevent further damaging tax rises, as any new tax rise on any part of betting or gaming can only undermine racing’s revenues and threaten investment in the sport – already a more expensive and less profitable product for operators.
“At the same time, higher costs and avoidable disruption risk driving customers to the unsafe, unregulated black market, which pays nothing to racing or the Treasury and offers no protection for consumers.”
The BHA has, on the other hand, emphasised that the historic move was “mission critical”, underpinning why the group felt enabled to take the step without consulting the BGC or betting operators.
It comes amidst a tense backdrop of tax debate across the UK, with a campaign event set to be held in Westminster protesting the potential tax on the same day as the cancelled fixtures.
Central to the case being put forward by UK racing is the sport being bundled in alongside iGaming and casino.
The group has made the case that there are different levels of harm associated with both, given that one is a sport and should subsequently be taxed differently. With a tax rise seeming increasingly likely amidst economic pressure on the Government, the Treasury has put forward proposals for a merger of the three types of betting tax – Remote Gaming Duty of 21%; General Betting Duty of 15% and Pool Betting Duty of 15%.
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