It seems to have slipped largely under the radar but there is a public consultation going on with the levy board where it has been proposed that people who are laying horses are effectively bookmakers and thus should pay 10% of their profits towards the horse racing levy. Some bookmakers are applying pressure and asking for a 10% gross tax on all lay bets on betfair, meaning that a scratch trade for £100 at say 2.0 would result in you losing £10 if the horse wins - effectively this would end the possiblity of trading UK races.
The levy board are inviting public opinions and if you have a view on this then then I suggest you get involved and air your views to them.
You can find the overall consulation document here:
http://www.hblb.co.uk/document.php?id=360
It's probably best viewed as a PDF here:
http://www.hblb.co.uk/documents/Betting ... tation.pdf
The address to email your opinion to is here:
[email protected]
The consultation closes Monday night so make sure you do it as soon as possible. Anyone with any interest in racing would be mad not to take 5 minutes of their time to do this. Some people are saying this will never happen but the bookies are heavily lobbying for this and nobody really seems to be speaking up for betfair users who everyone is happy to blame for racings troubles. Please if you have a view then tell it to the levy board
Fight the proposed 10% tax on lay bets
Will the outcome of this consultation be known before or after Betfair's flotation?
Jeff
Jeff
hgodden wrote:It seems to have slipped largely under the radar but there is a public consultation going on with the levy board where it has been proposed that people who are laying horses are effectively bookmakers and thus should pay 10% of their profits towards the horse racing levy. Some bookmakers are applying pressure and asking for a 10% gross tax on all lay bets on betfair, meaning that a scratch trade for £100 at say 2.0 would result in you losing £10 if the horse wins - effectively this would end the possiblity of trading UK races.
The levy board are inviting public opinions and if you have a view on this then then I suggest you get involved and air your views to them.
You can find the overall consulation document here:
http://www.hblb.co.uk/document.php?id=360
It's probably best viewed as a PDF here:
http://www.hblb.co.uk/documents/Betting ... tation.pdf
The address to email your opinion to is here:
[email protected]
The consultation closes tonight so make sure you do it as soon as possible. Anyone with any interest in racing would be mad not to take 5 minutes of their time to do this. Some people are saying this will never happen but the bookies are heavily lobbying for this and nobody really seems to be speaking up for betfair users who everyone is happy to blame for racings troubles. Please if you have a view then tell it to the levy board
Jimmy wrote:What does BetAngel have to say about this.? Surely this would put an end to all trading software. Unless the tax was just on the profit.
Cheers
Jimmy
We have already commented on other levy related threads. The idea of apply a levy to lay bets is just a daft idea and has been mooted before and rejected, to raise it again is just political posturing. They should address overseas bookies first, that would yield much more revenue and is deliberate avoidance rather than just a quirk of modern betting markets.
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Merry Terry
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:37 pm
cant see how they would make this work even if there was an agreement to implement it. This goes back to the argument that was raging a decade ago but it is surely dead in the water now.
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steven1976
- Posts: 1744
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:28 am
Does the fact that Betfair have certain servers in Cyprus (i think) for overseas punters have any suggestion that betfair already have plans in place if it ever happened?
I only skim read that document but I didn;t see a proposal to introduce 10% on all lay bets??
My understanding was from that they were looking to push for an intermediatery license for people who operate as professional "bookmakers" on the exchange which didn't meet the current requirements for a full betting license and still operated as a business on the exchange. The crux of the argument though is how they define the term bookmaker.
From reading the previous government responses it seemed pretty obvious the government weren't interested in trying to classify a trader on the exchange as a bookmaker or liable for tax. Especially giving the current massive departmental cuts the government are currently making I can;t really see them wanting to change their position and spend money on reviewing a complex situation for little return. I would say the levy board have a pretty slim chance of getting a change out of this from the current system. They stand a much better chance of going after the offshore boys IMHO.
My understanding was from that they were looking to push for an intermediatery license for people who operate as professional "bookmakers" on the exchange which didn't meet the current requirements for a full betting license and still operated as a business on the exchange. The crux of the argument though is how they define the term bookmaker.
From reading the previous government responses it seemed pretty obvious the government weren't interested in trying to classify a trader on the exchange as a bookmaker or liable for tax. Especially giving the current massive departmental cuts the government are currently making I can;t really see them wanting to change their position and spend money on reviewing a complex situation for little return. I would say the levy board have a pretty slim chance of getting a change out of this from the current system. They stand a much better chance of going after the offshore boys IMHO.
looks like the crux of their argument trying to classify us as bookmakers is around the following statement
Although I can't see this standing up as surely anyone who puts an offer of a back or a lay on an exchange is effecting a transaction on horse racesWhether the bookmaker is carrying on, on his own account, a business which includes the effecting of betting transactions on horse races.