Guidance

Gambling Tax Service: registration guide

What you need to do to register for General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty and Remote Gaming Duty due to changes from 1 December 2014.

This guidance was withdrawn on

This detailed guidance was originally archived on 17 March 2015.

Overview

If you’re not already paying General Betting Duty (GBD), Pool Betting Duty (PBD) or Remote Betting Duty (RGD), but you’ll be liable from 1 December 2014, you’ll need to register before then.

You can use the Gambling Tax Service (GTS) online registration system to register.

This guide helps you sign up for HMRC Online Services and complete your online registration.

If you’re already paying GBD, PBD or RGD you don’t need to register.

How to register online

If you have a new GBD, PBD or RGD business and want to register online, you’ll need to sign up for HMRC’s Online Services and register for gambling tax.

If you don’t already have a Government Gateway account you’ll first need to create one as an ‘Organisation’.

  1. Go to the Government Gateway homepage.
  2. Select ‘Register as an Organisation’.
  3. Next select the ‘Register’ button.
  4. This will take you to the ‘Register for a Government Gateway account’ page. Provide the information requested, then select the ‘Submit’ button.
  5. You’ll now be shown your Government Gateway account number. Either download or print a copy of the page or make a note of your GG account number and keep it in a safe place.
  6. You’ll now reach the ‘At your Services’ page – at this point log out of the Government Gateway.
  7. Go to the Welcome to HMRC Online Services page. As you’ve just registered for a Government Gateway account you’re an “existing user”. Enter the User ID and password you created earlier and click ‘Login’.
  8. After reading the ‘Security message’, select ‘Next’.
  9. At the ‘Your HMRC services’ page follow the ‘Register for HMRC taxes’ link.
  10. At the ‘Register for HMRC taxes’ page, follow the link to ‘Register for Gambling Tax Service’.
  11. Click the ‘New Registration’ button to begin your registration.

If you already have a Government Gateway account as an ‘Organisation’ and use HMRC Online services

  1. Go to the Welcome to HMRC Online Services. As you have just registered for a Government Gateway account you’re an “existing user”. Enter the User ID and password you created earlier and click ‘Login’.
  2. After reading the ‘Security message’, select ‘Next’.
  3. At the ‘Your HMRC services’ page follow the ‘Register for HMRC taxes’ link.
  4. At the ‘Register for HMRC taxes’ page, follow the link to ‘Register for Gambling Tax Service’.
  5. Click the ‘New Registration’ button to begin your registration.

When HMRC receive your registration application they’ll check the information submitted. These checks will take at least a week and sometimes longer. HMRC will contact you by email (if you provided an email address) and by post when your registration has been approved and issue a registration certificate. You’ll also be able to view your registration certificate through GTS.

What you’ll need to register

Business type - if you’re a What you’ll need to complete online registration
Sole proprietor Trading name
  Date of birth
  National Insurance Number
  HMRC Unique Taxpayer Reference - if held (this will have been issued by HMRC when registering for self assessment, it’s made up of 10 numbers, for example 1234567890)
  UK VAT registration number - if held (the registration number is made up of 9 digits, for example 123 4567 89)
  Principal place of business
  Contactable telephone number
  Contactable email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example:
firstname.lastname@domain.com
  Date taxable betting started or is due to start (this will be on or after 1 December 2014)
  Correspondence address
  In addition:

For GBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any:
-off course betting
-spread betting
-betting exchange activity

For PBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity

For RGD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any betting or gaming activity
Partnership UK VAT registration number (if held)
  Organisation name
  Trading name if different to the organisation name
  Principal place of business
  Contactable telephone number
  Contactable email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example:
firstname.lastname@domain.com
  Date taxable betting started or is due to start (this will be on or after 1 December 2014)
  Correspondence address
  In addition:

For GBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any:
-off course betting
-spread betting
-betting exchange activity

For PBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity

For RGD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any betting or gaming activity
Corporate body (UK) UK VAT registration number (if held)
  HMRC Unique Taxpayer Reference - if held (this will have been issued by HMRC when registering for Corporation Tax, it’s made up of 10 numbers, for example 1234567890)
  Organisation name
  Trading name if different to the organisation name
  Principal place of business
  Contactable telephone number
  Contactable email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example:
firstname.lastname@domain.com
  Date taxable betting started or is due to start (this will be on or after 1 December 2014)
  Correspondence address
  In addition:

For GBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any:
-off course betting
-spread betting
-betting exchange activity

For PBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity

For RGD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any betting or gaming activity
Corporate body (non-UK) Trading name if different to the organisation name
  Principal place of business
  Contactable telephone number
  Contactable email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example:
firstname.lastname@domain.com
  Date taxable betting started or is due to start (this will be on or after 1 December 2014)
  Correspondence address
  In addition:

For GBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any:
-off course betting
-spread betting
-betting exchange activity

For PBD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity

For RGD -

Expected annual taxable profit from any betting or gaming activity

Appointing an agent

If you want an accountant or someone else to act on your behalf, you can appoint them when registering online. Your agent will need to have a Government Gateway identifier and be enrolled for the Gambling Tax agent service. To appoint an agent during registration you’ll need to have your agent’s:

  • gambling tax agent reference number
  • agent postcode

If you don’t have this information when registering you can appoint an agent at a later date by writing to:

HMRC National Registration Unit

Portcullis House
21 India Street
Glasgow
G2 4PZ

Partnerships

If you need to register a partnership you can tell HMRC when you apply to register online – you’ll need to provide details of all the partners.

Group registration

If you want to register as a group the Group Lead Member must complete the registration application and provide details of all group members.

Representatives

If you need to appoint a representative you should tell HMRC when you apply to register online.

Other ways to register

If you don’t hold (and are not required to hold) a Remote Operating Licence from the Gambling Commission, HMRC can send you paper registration forms.

To register for:

  • GBD it’s form GBD1 General Betting Duty – Application to register a business
  • PBD it’s form PBD1 Pool Betting Duty – Application to register a business

If you need paper forms please write to:

HMRC National Registration Unit

Portcullis House
21 India Street
Glasgow
G2 4PZ

Registration applications for RGD must be made online.

Updates to this page

Published 3 November 2014

Sign up for emails or print this page