{"id":91968,"date":"2018-11-06T06:29:25","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T14:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=91968"},"modified":"2018-11-06T06:32:20","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T14:32:20","slug":"irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Government Shoots Itself in Foot Over Betting Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0decision to double the Irish betting tax<\/a>\u00a0was taken “without a detailed analysis of the economic consequences,\u201d according to a professor of Economics, and could result in a loss for government coffers.<\/p>\n

\"Irish
Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe (pictured) may have grossly overestimated the revenues that will be derived from a hike in the Irish betting tax, according to Professor Foley. (Image: Press Association)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a report commissioned by The Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA), Dublin City University Emeritus Associate Professor Anthony Foley suggests that consequential shop closures, job losses, and other \u201cpossible negative effects on the commercial viability and sustainability of bookmakers” will cancel out any potential gains for the Irish exchequer.<\/p>\n

The IBA says it believes 400 of Ireland\u2019s 850 betting shops will be put out of business, with small independents the worst impacted as they will be unable to absorb the shock of the tax hike. Some 2,400 jobs will be sacrificed, the IBA estimates.<\/p>\n

Slim Margins<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The government announced last month it would raise the levy on betting handle from one percent to two percent as part of its 2019 budget. That may not sound like a lot, but this is a tax on the volume of bets placed, not revenue.<\/p>\n

Bookies generally keep around 6 to 8 percent of handle as gross-gaming revenue before they pay all their other expenses, such as sales taxes, staff wages, and image and media rights.<\/p>\n

\n

According to IBA chairwoman Sharon Byrne, many independent bookmakers operate on a margin of less than one percent once these deductions have been made, which will plunge them into liquidation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While Ireland\u2019s market-leading operator Paddy Power Betfair<\/a> is capable of absorbing the hit, it remains the most exposed to its impact. Shares in the betting giant plunged on last month\u2019s budget statement, with \u00a3250 million ($329 million) of its market capitalization wiped off in just over two hours.<\/p>\n

\u00a35 Million Shortfall<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Foley concluded that the impact of 400 closures would cost the country \u20ac35 million ($40 million) in taxes, while the remaining outlets would generate around \u20ac30 million ($34.2 million), leaving the exchequer \u20ac5 million ($5.7 million) out of pocket. Irish finance Minister Paschal Donahoe claimed in his budget announcement the levy would bring \u20ac50\u00a0 million ($57 million) in new revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if our estimates for shop closures are incorrect, and unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case, Professor Foley’s report shows this is far from being the cash cow that the government thinks it is,\u201d Byrne told the Racing Post<\/em>. “The two per cent is too crude a tax and too blunt. Maybe it’s time to look at an alternative tax in order to save the jobs of so many people as these are unnecessary job losses.<\/p>\n

“The small bookmakers and independents will be wiped out if we don’t.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0decision to double the Irish betting tax\u00a0was taken “without a detailed analysis of the economic consequences,\u201d according to a professor of Economics, and could result in a loss for government coffers. In a report commissioned by The Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA), Dublin City University Emeritus Associate Professor Anthony Foley suggests that consequential shop closures, job […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":91970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,61,18943,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIrish Government Shoots Itself in Foot Over Betting Tax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Government\u2019s decision to double the Irish tax betting was not properly thought out and the exchequer is likely to make a loss, says professor of economics.\" \/>\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 Shoots Itself in Foot Over Betting Tax\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Government\u2019s decision to double the Irish tax betting was not properly thought out and the exchequer is likely to make a loss, says professor of economics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/\" \/>\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=\"2018-11-06T14:29:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-06T14:32:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/pd.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\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-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/\",\"name\":\"Irish Government Shoots Itself in Foot Over Betting Tax\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/pd.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-06T14:29:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-06T14:32:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Government\u2019s decision to double the Irish tax betting was not properly thought out and the exchequer is likely to make a loss, says professor of economics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/irish-government-shoots-itself-in-foot-over-betting-tax\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/pd.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/pd.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe may have grossly overestimated revenues derived from a hike in the Irish betting tax, according to Professor Foley. 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