Minister won’t bet on raising taxes in Budget
FINANCE Minister Paschal Donohoe has given punters a win after refusing to double tax on betting after warnings of jobs losses from the bookmaking industry.
His department had presented three options that could have raised an extra €50million.
However, Mr Donohoe decided he would leave the 1% rate of tax and reconsider the increase in next year’s Budget.
The Department had received multiple submissions from the betting industry, which had warned an extension of the tax could be “potentially damaging”.
They said it could lead to closure of businesses and job losses, with a “particularly stark” risk for individual or smaller operators.
The Departmental submission explained there was “ongoing pressure” to increase the tax on betting, which is among the lowest in the world. Mr Donohoe was told there were three options open to him, the first simply to increase the rate from 1% to 2%. The second option was to tax the punter, which the Department said would come with its own set of risks.
The submission said: “[There is] the possibility of punters seeking out alternative untaxed forms of betting or a move towards unlicensed operators.”
The minister was also told other countries had suffered a “negative experience” when they tried to tax the punter.
The last option suggested a special tax on the gross profits of firms. Paddy Power Betfair for instance had operating profits of £91 million (€103million) in the first quarter of this year.