Online gambling to be included in new Irish gambling tax

Highlight of the Irish gambling news this week is the possibility that the long awaited new legislation on gambling tax may be brought forward from later this year to the first quarter. There is still criticism in some areas for the delay considering that the Bill to change the tax regime was passed in the middle of last year and already a loss of income has resulted but those responsible for drafting the legislation suggest that it is more important to get it right. To refresh your memory, we reported last year in the Irish gambling news that the 1% tax which applies to betting shops (it used to be 2% and before that 5%) should be extended to other forms of gambling including online gambling and betting exchanges should pay 15% of profits. The main beneficiaries of this new gambling tax would be the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund but whereas it was previously thought and reported in the Irish gambling news that all proceeds would be ring fenced for the Fund recent reports suggest that this might not be the case.Other sports bodies suggest that sports gambling is not restricted to Horse race gambling and Greyhound gambling and in fact some reports in the Irish gambling news suggest that gambling on horses and dogs is in decline compared to other forms of gambling so naturally those other bodies also want a share. What is not yet clear however is how the proposal will affect online gambling and especially those online gambling companies that are not resident in Ireland. The detail of the legislation will be critical and here at gambling.ie we shall keep our eyes on the Irish gambling news and bring you updates as best we can but we still think it will be difficult for online gambling providers to apply special taxes to Irish gamblers only.