Ireland’s draft legislation to require all bookmakers and betting exchanges to obtain a licence if they wish to continue operating in the market has been notified to the European Commission.
The notification yesterday ahead of the Irish government’s summer recess gives the bill a decent chance of becoming law by the end of 2013, and marks the start of the EC’s statutory three-month standstill period set aside for review of changes to Member States’ gambling legislation.
Member States or the EC can now raise any concerns regarding the compatibility of the proposed changes with EU laws, specifically if they raise any unjustified barriers to trade between Member States.
The Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013is effectively a heavily amended version of the legislation introduced last July, which made it to the second stage in the Dáil before the large number of changes required spurred the government to republish instead.
The legislation would require all Irish-licensed bookmakers taking €250,000 or 10% of bets remotely - whichever is lower - as well as all non Irish-licensed bookies taking online bets in Ireland, to apply for a remote bookmaker’s licence.
Betting exchanges such as Betfair will be required to obtain a “remote betting intermediary‘s licence”.
Once the EC standstill period is complete, passage of the bill in the Irish parliament will activate the associated new taxes on remote betting contained within Ireland’s 2011 Finance Act.
Once implemented, the new tax regime will compel all bookmakers taking online bets from Ireland to pay 1% duty on all these bets, as all physical betting shops in Ireland currently do. Betting exchanges will, “in view of the different model adopted by betting exchanges”, according to the Finance Act, pay a duty “of 15% on the commission they charge/receive from persons in the State.”
The Irish government hopes the Betting (Amendment) Bill will help bridge a huge €50m-plus shortfall in annual funding for the country’s racing industry. The new tax regime has been estimated to eventually pour between €12m and €17m into Irish tax coffers on an annual basis. Horse Racing Ireland and the Greyhound Board are pushing for the government to allocate the receipts to the Horse and Greyhound Fund, on which they part rely for funding.
Irish market leader Paddy Power has previously stated the new remote tax could cost it up to €6m a year.
Ireland’s government also announced plans this week for the licensing and regulation of all forms of gambling in the country, including online casino, poker and bingo. The Gambling Control Bill would teablish a new agency, The Office for Gambling Control Ireland (OGCI), to oversee the licensing and subsequent supervision of operators.
Article written by Peter Holmes
