Proposed changes to the ways in which remote gambling is taxed and regulated in the UK have been in the pipeline for some time. As matters come to a head, iNTERGAMINGi talks to the government, the operators and others about the UK Gambling Bill.
THE state opening of the UK parliament can be a grand and at times mystifying affair. A day of leaked agenda, wild speculation and no little subterfuge.
Within the tradition and pomp lies a framework setting down the government agenda for the forthcoming parliamentary year. Amid the innocuously titled “Other measures to be laid before you” was the Gambling (licensing and advertising) Bill. The purpose of the bill, as set out in the briefing notes to the Queen’s speech, is to revise the Gambling Act (2005) with the effect of regulating remote gambling at the point of consumption.
The prospect of point-of-consumption taxation on earnings generated in the UK – rather than being taxed in an overseas operator’s home jurisdiction – has now been matched with a commitment to seek point-of-consumption regulation in the UK. This means that an operator based, regulated and licensed in an approved overseas jurisdiction would now need a UK licence in order to advertise and provide its services to UK consumers. It follows that these licence holders would be required to report earnings, and hence pay taxes on those earnings, in the UK, at higher levels generally than the rates they favoured those overseas jurisdictions for in the first place.
The notes on the proposals also state the main benefits of the bill, as seen by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, led by Culture Secretary Maria Miller. These include increased protection for UK consumers thanks to robust and consistent regulation and the fact that operators will be required to support action against any illegal activity and corruption in sport – something all reputable operators already claim to aspire to. There are more aims (of the bill) to “level the regulatory playing field for all remote operators – allowing British-based operators to compete on an equal footing.” There are also cited benefits relating to the protection of children and vulnerable adults.
The existing system, regulated by the Gambling Commission, involves so-called white listing – qualifying criteria that operators based overseas must meet if they are to service UK consumers. In short, operators based abroad who want to advertise gambling services in the UK must be based and licensed either in an EEA country - i.e. countries in the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - or any of Alderney, Antigua and Barbuda, Gibraltar, Isle of Man or Tasmania.
Read the full article in issue 3 of iNTERGAMINGi.
