The Rank Group has called on the UK government to harmonise tax rates between land-based and online gambling.
Rank’s chief executive and chairman, Ian Burke, argued that the creation of a level playing field for land-based operators will provide greater protection for consumers and will benefit the economy through job creation and more sustainable tax generation.
The government is presently reviewing taxation of both gaming machines and online gambling. The leisure group is urging it to use these reviews to simplify the system and make gaming taxes fairer. Casino games, for example, are subject to seven different tax systems with duty rate from zero per cent for online games to as much as 50 per cent in licensed venues.
"I believe that the government has the opportunity to create jobs in the UK without sacrificing tax receipts by replacing the current patchwork quilt with a single tax, at a single rate," Burke said.
Rank recently won its case at the European Court of Justice, successfully demonstrating that the fiscal treatment of certain supplies of gambling contravened the EC principle of fiscal neutrality.
This principle prevents a government treating similar goods or services differently for VAT purposes. The ECJ confirmed that the company has overpaid VAT on supplies of gaming machines and mechanised cash bingo.
