UK Operators will need to pay tax for the free betsUK

Bookies in the United Kingdom were expecting an increase in the duty to the machine games on Wednesday but this took a turn when the UK Chancellor Geeorge Osborne announced something different. He announced that those operators who were licensed in the UK would start paying a free bet tax from August 1^st 2017.

This proposal is yet to be passed but if passed, online casinos and bingo rooms will start parting with 15% general duty on bets that are free or discounted. As for now, they have been exempted from the 15% point of consumption tax that has faced huge criticism in the second half of 2014. The online gambling operators will now have more than a year to prepare for the new tax which has given them a great window period to tweak their free bets.

There isn’t a defined difference between Sports Betting, Casino and Bingo

This new tax will be used in giving bookmarkers, bingo and online casinos a level playing ground. Earlier, the bingo rooms were paying 15% POCT on all their online gambling activities which were generated from players who are UK residents. Chancellor George Osborne gave a suggestion that the new tax will seal loopholes and will not hurt operators in the gambling industry.

Online casinos stock responded positively to the news but the operators did not like it. The shareholders thought that the news would be harsher than this. They thought that there might be more restrictions on internet advertisements or more taxes. This free bet tax came as a relief for them, when the POCT tax was introduced about one and a half years ago, some of the operators recorded losses.

Nothing is permanent

This proposal has to be approved before casinos and bingo parlours in the UK have to pay tax for the free bets. Only time will tell, whether the tax will be implemented or not!