English bookmakers have today renewed their call for an urgent reduction in betting duty. They claim that unless there is a cut from 6.75% to 3% betting offices will close and there will be job losses.
The bookmakers' committee of the Horseracing Betting Levy Board insists that the growth in tax-free off-shore betting will hit government revenues and the Levy paid by bookmakers to support horseracing.
The committee has sent the Treasury reports commissioned from independent consultancies and Europe Economics. These show that a 3% rate of duty could generate between Stg £5 billion and Stg £15 billion in additional turnover for UK bookmakers.
Even at the lowest estimate, that would result in an increase in government revenues of over Stg £230m annually.
Warwick Bartlett, the chairman of the bookmakers' committee, said: 'The gambling industry is changing faster and more radically than ever before. Already all the major UK bookmakers have set up off-shore operations, and new entrants to the market are launching virtually on a daily basis.
'The government has a real opportunity to build on the success of British bookmaking. A reduction in duty to 3% could make us a world leader in e-commerce gambling and more than double current annual turnover. The alternative is to sit back and watch the domestic industry wither on the vine.'
