MPs warn chancellor 'not to cave in to industry scaremongering' over gambling tax rises
By ITV News Business Editor Joel Hills and ITV News Senior Producer Jack Abbey
MPs on the Treasury Select Committee have accused betting firms of exaggerating the damage that higher taxes would cause to the industry.
In a report, published ahead of the Budget, they urge the government "not to cave in to industry scaremongering".
Taxes on the industry should properly reflect the social harm some forms of gambling cause, the Committee says.
“Whether at a local race track or a seaside arcade, for many people gambling is a fun pastime enjoyed with family and friends,” says Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the committee
She added: “For too many people, the highly addictive and harmful nature of online betting games has seriously impacted their lives and the lives of those around them."
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) estimates that the government could raise an extra £3.2 billion a year by increasing taxes on online gambling, physical slot machines and sports betting.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has backed the proposal, saying the money should be used to lift the cap on benefits for families with more than two children.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) says increasing remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 50%, machines gaming duty from 20% to 50% and general betting duty from 15% to 25% would raise far less than the IPPR assumes - driving people to bet with unlicensed, black-market operators.
Analysis by EY, commissioned by the industry, concluded tax rises on this scale would also risk the loss of up to 40,000 jobs.
Last week, the chief executive of the BGC appeared before the Treasury committee to answer MPs questions.
On four occasions, Grainne Hurst denied that gambling causes social harm, while acknowledging that a minority of people suffer harm through gambling.
Hurst also argued that online gambling was no more addictive than betting on horse racing, a claim MPs have rejected as “staggering".
“Online betting games are extracting huge amounts of money from people who have been funnelled into the most addictive, harmful corners of the industry via their love of sports, or the occasional game of bingo,” said Meg Hillier.
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Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) chief executive Grainne Hurst said: “Further tax increases on the regulated online sector risk undermining consumer protections by pushing players towards the unsafe, unregulated black market – while reducing Treasury revenues and cutting the vital funding our members provide to British sport, including horse racing, football, rugby league, darts and snooker.
“We have always recognised that betting and gaming can lead to harm for a small minority, which is why our members are investing more than ever in safer gambling – including new stake limits on online gaming, enhanced affordability checks, swift data-driven interventions, robust advertising safeguards, and funding for a new £100 million statutory levy for research, prevention, and treatment to tackle problem gambling and related harm."
A spokesman for Flutter UK and Ireland, whose brands include Paddy Power, Sky Betting & Gaming, Sportsbet and Tombola, said: “It’s not scaremongering to suggest tax rates of 50% on machine games and online games such as bingo – as demanded by the IPPR – could have a significant impact on the industry, jobs and investment."
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