William Hill ‘to scoop £150m’ after VAT case
WILLIAM HILL may be in line for a windfall of up to £150million, bosses revealed yesterday after betting firms triumphed in a case against the taxman.
The case, which was won last month, could lead to William Hill recovering between £125million and £150million in value added tax (VAT) that it paid on betting machines.
The betting firm said yesterday Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has decided not to appeal against the ruling.
Justices last month decided to uphold a decision by a lower court tribunal that found betting companies were wrongly charged VAT on some gaming machines before 2013.
The court had decided it was wrong that revenues from some machines were charged VAT, while those from others were not.
“Such differences as there were between the various comparator games in terms of their relevant characteristics did not have a significant influence on the decision of the average customer to use one machine or another,” the Upper Tier Tribunal said when summarising the lower court’s decision. The case was not brought by William Hill, however bosses expect they will be in line for a refund because of it.
“The group has submitted claims which are substantially similar to those provided in theVAT challenge,” it said in a statement to shareholders.
Its claims have not gone through the accounting review that will be needed to assess whether William Hill is due a refund.
Separately, new data from the Gambling Commission has shown there has been no increase in the number of complaints over illegal gambling websites during the coronavirus lockdown.
The number of reports have remained stable for the past year.