Contrary to speculations that the impending cut to the maximum stakes for fixed odds betting terminals will cost the UK Treasury revenue, a new study found delaying the implementation of the cuts will cost more.
The UK has been delaying cutting the maximum allowed bet on FOBTs from £100 to £2 to allow High Street bookmakers to prepare for the change. But there has also been speculation that the UK Treasury is worried about the impact the policy would have on the £457m it collected in tax from the machines last year.
The Centre for Economic and Business Research, however, says the Treasury will make more money from the cut.
The think-tank estimates that machine gaming duty on the games decline by £287m a year but this would be more than offset by £419m of other benefits.
The study pointed to plans to increase online gaming taxes to compensate for the FOBT curbs and predicted many gamblers would switch from £100-a-spin machines to other products that also incur tax.
The report was commissioned by the amusement arcade trade body Bacta and estimates that the Treasury will lose between £98m and £132m for every year that maximum FOBT stakes remain at £100.
UK officials are expected to announce when the cuts will go into effect during budget negotiations later this year. Reports have said that April 2019 is the likely starting date, but there have been pushes from bookmakers for a longer delay.
According to the UK’s Guardian newspaper, a recent meeting of a cross-party parliamentary group on FOBTs saw machine manufacturers tell MPs and campaigners that the changes could be made within months.
