Richard Flint, chief executive of Sky Betting & Gaming, warned in a recent interview that a rise in the UK’s tax rate on gambling companies—which he fears the country’s government is considering—would hurt future investments in the industry.
Flint’s comments come as the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, is set to announce his autumn budget later this month.
Flint told the UK’s Daily Telegraph that it was “not inconceivable” that gambling-related taxes could rise. The UK currently charges a 15 percent point-of-consumption tax as a way of preventing off-shore betting firms from avoiding UK taxes.
“We are prepared to have the penalty of higher taxes versus being based offshore, but it could become unsustainable if taxes are increased too much,” Flint told the paper.
Flint said that through June 2017, his company paid £153m (€173.4m/$201.1m) in taxes, equivalent to 30 percent of its revenue, and added that as the firm is based in the UK, it means it has to pay VAT on marketing expenditure – something that is not levied on those based offshore, according to the report.
