Ireland's remote betting tax delayed by EC
European Commission takes additional time to scrutinise new Bill as Irish budget reveals tax will raise 25m annually
Ireland’s version of a Point of Consumption betting tax and regulatory regime has been delayed by roughly one month after the European Commission (EC) extended its initial three-month review of the legislation.
The Irish government sent its Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 to the EC for scrutiny during the summer and had hoped to have received the green light by mid-September, however, the standstill period has since been extended after the EC questioned some of the Bill’s contents.
The issues, which are being addressed by Ireland’s Department of Finance, are not expected to impact greatly on the Bill’s ultimate progress with the standstill period now expected to come to an end before the end of the month.
Speaking to eGaming Review, gaming lawyer Maire Conneely of Irish law firm A&L Goodbody confirmed the delay and said once returned the Bill could come into effect within a matter of weeks.
“That three month period would have expired mid-September but the Commission had some queries in relation to the Bill and those are being dealt with by the Department of Finance. This further engagement means that the standstill period is extended for a further month until October,” Conneely said.
“The Bill is now at a very advanced stage in the parliament so it is likely that any further amendments to the Bill will be of a limited nature and once the standstill period is over and the queries have been dealt with it could very well be enacted within a couple of weeks,” she added.
The Bill aims to licence and tax remote operators on a Point of Consumption basis similar to legislation due to come into effect in Britain on 1 November (licensing) and 1 December (tax), with bets placed by Ireland-based customers subject to a 1% turnover tax.
In a Budget announcement on Tuesday the government estimated the online betting industry to be worth around 1.6bn and revealed that it expected to raise an additional 25m a year in remote gaming taxes, some of which will be set aside for the country’s horse racing industry.
However, while the Bill, which also includes measures for longer high-street shop opening hours, is expected to be enacted shortly, it is still unclear exactly when the taxation and licensing procedures would be implemented.
“No detail has yet been provided as to how the licensing application process will work in practice, it may be that only part of the Bill will be commenced on enactment with the licensing sections to follow once the licensing process is up and running,” Conneely said.
“It is also not clear when the requirement to pay tax will commence and whether this will be linked to the time the licence is granted,” she added.
Leading Irish operator Boylesports told eGR that while they had no problem with the tax, it was keen the government put in place measures to ensure all remote firms were treated equally.
“We have no issue with the new tax itself,” Michael Bent, Boylesports finance director, said. “However we do have some concerns about how it will be applied, in particular we want to see a level playing pitch for all gaming companies operating in the Irish market whether they are based in Ireland or abroad,” he added.
In addition, the Irish government is also hopeful of introducing a Gambling Control Bill by early 2016 which, among other aims, will see the set-up of a specialised gambling regulator.