{"id":90025,"date":"2018-10-10T11:00:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T18:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=90025"},"modified":"2018-10-10T11:52:35","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T18:52:35","slug":"irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Government Doubles Betting Tax Threatening Independent Bookmakers with Extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Irish government has doubled tax rates on betting as part of its 2019 budget, as it had threatened to last week.<\/p>\n

\"Paschal
Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe bumped up betting tax 100 percent in the 2019 budget. The Irish Bookmakers Association believes the move could wipe out every single independent bookmaker in the country. (Image: Gareth Chaney Collins\/Extra.ie)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shares in Paddy Power Betfair<\/a> fell five percent on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the immediate aftermath of finance minister Paschal Donohoe\u2019s budget announcement on Tuesday, wiping \u00a3250 million ($329 million) off the company\u2019s market capitalization in just over two hours.<\/p>\n

Two percent may not sound so brutal, but this is not a tax on bookies\u2019 win (gross gaming revenue) as commonly found in other jurisdictions, but on handle — ie, the total of the volume of bets before winnings are paid out to bettors. Bookies generally keep around 6 to 8 percent of handle as gross-gaming revenue before they pay all their other expenses.<\/p>\n

As the biggest bookmaker in Ireland, Paddy Power is most exposed to the new tax hit. The company said the government\u2019s decision will increase its annual tax bill in Ireland by an estimated \u00a320 million ($26 million).<\/p>\n

The Less Than One Percenters<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Paddy Power Betfair is one of the top 250 public companies on the LSE and can absorb the hit, but it\u2019s the small, independent bookmakers that will really struggle. They may be left with less than one percent of total handle, according the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA).<\/p>\n

Chairman Sharon Byrne told The Racing Post<\/em> that the budget will\u00a0\u201ckill the industry\u201d and potentially annihilate all of the independent bookmakers in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been specified how it will be implemented, but a tax on the bookmakers takes no consideration for profitability or losses,\u201d she said. \u201cThe businesses have been struggling to pay one percent so two will not work.\u201d<\/p>\n

After VAT, PRSI, PAYE, picture rights, etc, have been paid, they are left with a margin of about 0.75 per cent to 0.801 per cent, so a further one per cent on turnover just puts them into insolvency,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019d imagine we are looking at all of the independents closing and maybe 100 to 125 of the big multiples’ shops.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

New Threat to Horseracing Funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The move is also likely to negatively impact the horseracing industry in Ireland and the UK, whose funding has also been jeopardized by the UK\u2019s decision<\/a> to slash in the maximum stakes of fixed-odds betting terminals.<\/p>\n

The racing industry received \u00a339 million in media rights payments last year from bookmakers in Ireland, whose betting outlets pay for the right to broadcast races.<\/p>\n

But fewer shops mean less funding for racing and the IBA estimates 300 of Ireland\u2019s 850 betting shops could close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Irish government has doubled tax rates on betting as part of its 2019 budget, as it had threatened to last week. Shares in Paddy Power Betfair fell five percent on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in the immediate aftermath of finance minister Paschal Donohoe\u2019s budget announcement on Tuesday, wiping \u00a3250 million ($329 million) off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":90026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIrish Government Doubles Betting Tax, Big Threat to Independent Bookies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe doubles betting tax causing Paddy Power Betfair share price to plummet and threatening to wipe out independent bookmakers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Irish Government Doubles Betting Tax, Big Threat to Independent Bookies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe doubles betting tax causing Paddy Power Betfair share price to plummet and threatening to wipe out independent bookmakers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-10T18:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-10T18:52:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/paschal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/\",\"name\":\"Irish Government Doubles Betting Tax, Big Threat to Independent Bookies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/paschal.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-10T18:00:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-10T18:52:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe doubles betting tax causing Paddy Power Betfair share price to plummet and threatening to wipe out independent bookmakers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-doubles-betting-tax-big-threat-independent-bookies\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/paschal.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/paschal.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":700,\"caption\":\"Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe bumped up betting tax 100 percent in the 2009 budget. 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