A new YouGov survey for standards body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) found 65% of regular punters agreed increased taxes, “would make customers turn to unregulated betting sites that don’t have to pay any tax at all.”
The Government is now consulting on a major change to the way betting and gaming is taxed online, sparking fears it will make betting on sports like racing and football, more expensive.
Sporting betting and online gaming is currently taxed at different rates, but last month the Treasury launched a new consultation titled The Tax Treatment of Remote Gambling, proposing a single new tax.
The BGC has already warned any further tax increases on members would hit punter’s pockets, and hammer horseracing’s fragile finances.
BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said: “This shocking statistic proves what’s at stake if the Government forces through a self-defeating tax hike on ordinary punters.
“It’s clear it will not raise more tax, it simply risks forcing huge numbers of customers out of the regulated market, with its world leading standards on player safety, into the arms of the growing, illegal, unregulated and unsafe gambling black market online.
“Any tax rises would make a mockery of the Government’s growth strategy and be catastrophic for horseracing, which is already facing a bleak financial outlook.
“This is a wake up call for Government, punters have been loud and clear, hit them with further taxes and they will walk away from sports like racing, straight to the black market, triggering a spiral of decline.”
The YouGov survey asked punters, “imagine that betting on sports events like horseracing became more expensive because the government increased the amount of tax that betting companies have to pay.
“How likely or unlikely do you think it is, if at all, that this would make customers turn to unregulated betting sites that don’t have to pay any tax at all?”
Of those who consider themselves regular punters, 65% said it would, in a shock warning to Government. Meanwhile, just 23% of punters said such a tax hike would be unlikely to have an impact on customers drifting to the black market.
A recent study commissioned by the BGC found 1.5m Brits stake up to £4.3bn on the growing gambling black market annually.
This growing, unsafe, illegal gambling black market does not contribute to sport, does not pay tax and targets customers who are vulnerable to harm, including the self-excluded.
Meanwhile, BGC members support 109,000 jobs, generate £6.8bn for the economy while raising £4bn in taxes.
They also help fund horseracing to the tune of £350m a year through sponsorship, media rights and the Levy, while contributing £40m for the English Football League and its clubs, plus millions more for rugby league, darts and snooker.
Each month in Britain around 22.5m adults have a bet and the most recent NHS Health Survey for England estimated that 0.4% of the adult population are problem gamblers.
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