Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown will reveal a plan in his budget
next month to encourage the online gambling industry, according to published
reports.
He will use the 21 March budget to announce that companies could obtain a
British licence and still remain based overseas in return for a tax —
possibly as low as 2 per cent or 3 per cent, the Daily Telegraph said on
Friday in an unsourced report. Named a Remote Gaming Duty, the new tax would
enable gambling firms to avoid paying VAT, the newspaper said. A comment was
not immediately available from HM Treasury. Internet gaming groups will be
able to relocate to Britain and obtain a licence in September under the
Gambling Act, the newspaper said. Such companies, however, have said they
would decline the chance if it meant paying a tax on gross wins, it added.