Warwick Bartlett, chairman of the British Bookmakers' Committee, has said that the chances of a reduction in the rate of betting duty have improved following a meeting with British Treasury minister Stephen Timms today.
However, he warned that the Government must act quickly to prevent more bookmakers switching offshore and the subsequent loss of revenue and jobs in Britain.
Bartlett led a delegation of bookmakers calling for a reduction in duty to three per cent from 6.75 per cent and said: "I think our chances of a reduction are better subsequent to the meeting than before.
"I think the minister is now more understanding of the problem than he was before and he said he was going to take our concerns to Chancellor Gordon Brown."
Home Secretary Jack Straw today announced the terms of reference for the review of British gambling legislation which is expected to commence shortly after Easter and report back to Ministers in the summer of 2001.
One aspect the review body will consider is the implications for the current system of taxation and the scope for its further development.
However, Bartlett warned that a cut in betting duty could not wait until the review body reports back.
He said: "The problem is that in 'Cyberworld' four months is a year in commercial life and there is a danger that the Government is not going to react quickly enough to the changes in circumstances that are taking place.
"I did stress the need for early action on betting tax because budgets come yearly and they will not be able to reduce the rate of betting tax half way through a fiscal year.
"In Australia they acknowledged that things are moving very quickly and pre-empted the market by going to one per cent straight away.
"Here we are at 6.75 and the flow of bookmakers to offshore, if there isn't a reduction in betting tax in this budget, will go from a drip to a flood."
Bartlett argued that a cut in betting duty would benefit both the industry and Government funds.
"What we're saying is that this will bring revenue to the UK. A very conservative estimate is £2 billion from abroad.
"You would make the illegal bookmaker less competitive, there would be recycling of existing money, the Irish experience is that turnover has increased dramatically since betting tax has been reduced and we would bringing money in from abroad.
"There would be no loss to revenue, jobs would be saved and we could look at an expanding betting market with Great Britain at the centre."
