Press release

Government to review taxation of remote gambling

The government has today announced that it will review the case for amending the taxation regime for remote gambling.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The government has today announced that it will review the case for amending the taxation regime for remote gambling.  This follows last week’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) proposal to make changes to the regulation of remote gambling.

In a written ministerial statement to Parliament today, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Justine Greening, stated:

On Thursday 14 July, the Minister for Tourism and Heritage (John Penrose) announced that he proposes that the Gambling Act should be amended so that remote gambling is regulated on a point of consumption basis.

Under this proposal all operators, whether from here or abroad, will be required to hold a Gambling Commission licence to enable them to transact with British consumers. I will review the case for changing the taxation regime in line with John Penrose’s proposal and taxing operators on the basis of customer location.

Separately, other countries are also changing both their regulatory and taxation regimes for remote gambling. I will consider the tax implications of these developments. In particular, I will consider ways to prevent operators in the UK being subject to double taxation on remote gambling in the shorter term.

Notes for Editors

  1. You can download the written ministerial statement

  2. The Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs will continue to liaise with DCMS, the Gambling Commission and key industry stakeholders to carry out the review.

  3. Any move to a taxation system based on customer location would be made in accordance with the government’s framework for tax policy making.

As part of the framework, the government is committed to formally consulting on both policy design and draft legislative proposals.

Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

Media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Press Office on 020 7270 5238.

Updates to this page

Published 18 July 2011