International Federation of Horseracing Authorities

Countdown to the event

days
hours
mins
secs


Resources


News

Thursday, March 23, 2006
Little change in UK gaming tax

On 22 March, Finance Minister Gordon brown presented the state budget, that runs from April 2006 to April 2007. The budget did not include any changes to the taxation of betting and maintained the preferential VAT treatment for race horse owners:

  • As in the past few years, bookmakers, including betting exchanges are expected to pay 15% taxes on their gross profits.

  • The VAT on purchase of a race horse and on the training costs can continue to be reclaimed. More on the VAT issue in our seperate article under the Headlines section.

    Equally important for the racing industry in the UK could be the introduction of a tax on electronic fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). From 1 August, bookmakers will have to pay an annual licence duty of UK£1,965 per machine, on top of VAT. There are about 20,000 machines across the UK. A consumer shift from FOTB’s to live betting is therefore likely. This could have a positive effect on racing, as FOTBs do not contribute to the racing and live betting does.