 UK aims to attract online gambling industry
The new Gambling tax will be called “Remote Gaming Duty.” This compromise would allow gambling companies to avoid British VAT (value added tax).The Treasury has long had its eye on the potential tax revenues that are generated by the likes of PartyPoker, 888 Holdings, Ladbrokes and other gaming companies that are based in Gibraltar and other offshore centers. Beginning in September, the companies will be allowed for the first time to relocate to the UK and obtain a license under the Gambling Act. 
However, all companies have said they would never relocate to the UK if they had to pay a tax on gross wins as high street casinos do. Bricks-and-mortar casinos pay tax of up to 40 percent depending on their size. Crucially, the exact rate has yet to be decided, but John O’Reilly, the head of online gambling at Ladbrokes, said he was pleased with the deal. “It’s quite a breakthrough,” he is reported as saying. He confirmed that if the rate was less than 3 percent, Ladbrokes would almost certainly sign up for a UK license. “We want to be regulated by the UK government,” he said. The company’s online gaming division generates Pounds 100 million (US$196.3 million), so the move would generate between Pounds 2 million ($3.9 million) and Pounds 3 million ($5.9 million) for the Treasury. The Treasury’s willingness to embrace online gambling is in sharp contrast to the authorities in the United States, which last year launched a drastic crackdown on the industry.
