GBGA tax hearing faces delay
Legal challenge to UK Treasury's implementation of a 15% Point of Consumption tax unlikely to be heard until the spring
The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s (GBGA) bid to overturn the UK’s Point of Consumption tax will be delayed by at least a couple months, eGaming Review has learned.
Last month the GBGA was successful in securing a judicial review of the UK Treasury’s decision to implement a 15% levy on offshore operators’ UK-derived profits, with a hearing said to have been pencilled in for early January.
However, due to court commitments, the case is now likely to be delayed until the spring time with March or April now thought to be a more probable timeframe for the case to be heard.
“We anticipate that the court will hear this matter later in the year and look forward to presenting our arguments at that time,” a spokesperson for the GBGA told eGR this morning.
Speaking to eGR last month, GBGA chief executive Peter Howitt said the decision to litigate was not one it took lightly but added that his team, led by law firm Olswang, had “a good case to make” against the tax.
“The litigation has a lot of elements that make success politically difficult but the Association believes there are some key issues that need to be addressed,” Howitt said.
The Treasury intends to “robustly defend” its decision to implement a levy which it says will “level the playing field” by providing “a fairer tax system for all gambling operators”.
Last year the GBGA was unsuccessful in its legal challenge of the Gambling Act, which ushered in a new UK licensing regime on a Point of Consumption basis from 1 November.