Possible New Gambling Tax for Ireland

October 01, 2010 | News Category: Casino Banking

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Even though the Irish government has refused to confirm or deny any possible changes in the taxation of gambling winnings, it certainly seem that there will be a new tax imposed. The Irish government has said that if there are any changes, that all information will be revealed when the new budget is announced in December.

While the tax has not been confirmed, Ireland's Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan has considered that the taxation on remote gambling revenue might be doubled, which will leave Irish players with a 2% winnings tax. If this tax is imposed, it could have far-reaching consequences for Irish gambling, and for the Irish economy.

Online gambling operators are concerned that this tax, if it is applied, will have negative consequences on their operations. Firstly, if players are dissatisfied with having to pay an extra tax on their winnings, they may well move their online gambling betting to overseas, or offshore, online gambling companies in order to avoid the tax.

As far as Irish land based betting shops are concerned, there is the possibility of about one third of these operations closing down. Online players would also be affected greatly because there is no reason for players to stay at an online casino site that charges more in taxes than an offshore online casino.

The Irish government has speculated that £60 billion could be raised every year from these additional taxes, however, the Irish Bookmakers' Association had the following to say: "We believe that 400 of the 1,200 would shut up overnight. It would kill jobs in the industry."

Sharon Bryne, a spokesperson for the Irish Bookmakers' Association, explained: "Paradoxically, therefore, rather than strengthening the contribution of the online betting sector to the Irish Exchequer this new taxation would have the opposite effect."

Should this tax be imposed, and land based bookmakers close down, as well as online gamblers spending their money offshore, it is then likely that many of those in the gambling industry in Ireland would be out of jobs. Currently, the industry employs about 6,500 people, many of which could stand to lose their jobs as a side effect of the possible online gambling taxation.

It is therefore no surprise that the Irish land based and online gambling world is quite opposed to this new tax, and that their fears of the result of such a tax being introduced could be disastrous for the Irish gambling industry.