Ireland Will Double Gambling Tax

This week the government of Ireland announced that they're set to double the country's tax on gambling turnover from 1% to 2%, a move that obviously isn't very popular with operators.

Those who operate online and retail betting companies in the country are suggesting that the move could put roughly 35% of the 850 betting shops at risk of being shut down. For the government's part, they're looking to increase the amount of money open to public spending, and the move is expected to generate roughly €50 million from the upping of the taxes.

The Irish Bookmakers Association is staunchly against the move and put out a statement, which read: "We estimate for a typical independent operator with a modest turnover of €2m per shop, that they are already paying six times more in tax than the profit made per year in that shop. A 1% increase would wipe out any profit made in that shop and cause them to be loss making if their gross margin was to drop below 12%, which is highly probable."

"The business is characterised by very low margins and any change in our cost base could be catastrophic, particularly to the smaller operators."

No timetable for the implementation of the new taxes was available as of press time.