No More Taxes
August 9, 2009
The United Kingdom has done themselves a disservice. The online gambling industry in their country came looking for a place to go when the United States shut them out. However, instead of finding a haven they found very expensive lodgings. Online gambling companies were upset with the amount of money in taxes that the UK government has been charging them and now they are doing something about it.
William Hill is leading the way out of the UK and moving their shop to Gibraltar instead as they say that they are much more online gambling friendly than the UK is. They say that they are not bringing in enough money into their online gambling companies to warrant the amount of tax that the UK is charging them. They want the UK to drop the tax rate drastically or they are leaving and there are many other online gambling companies who are going with them.
If they do leave the UK will suffer a large blow as those taxes make up a large chunk of their yearly revenue. Ladbrokes has already made it very public knowledge that they are seeking a change as well – and with Gibraltar offering a much lower rate they are going to take them up on it. They say that they cannot be competitive with other online gambling sites while paying this much money out to stay there.
The UK is currently charging their online gambling companies 15% in taxes. In Gibraltar they are charging as low as 1.5% - a significant difference in money going out. Plus, they know that if the UIGEA is overturned they will be able to offer their services to the US again and with the lower tax rate they will make significantly more money. The UK had better act fast to change their tax rate or they are going to lose millions of dollars.
