The U.K. government is considering a new levy on gaming companies of up to 1 percent of gross gambling yield to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to fund research, prevention and treatment of problem gambling, said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in a statement, XM reported October 16. Traditional betting shops would pay about 0.4 percent.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said in a statement, “All gambling operators will be required to pay their fair share. This consultation is an opportunity for the industry, clinicians, those who have experienced gambling harm, and the wider public to have their say on how the proposed gambling operator levy should work.”
The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC), made up of members of the industry, supports such a levy, but insists that the lottery should pay a similar fee to fund research, education and treatment (RET).
This would be in addition to a voluntary levy that the government says is often as little as 1 pound by some operators. The charity GambleAware received £34.7 million pounds from voluntary levies from the industry in 2021/22.
The statement declared, “The Government is minded to set the levy as a new 1 percent fee on gross gambling yield for online gambling operators, while traditional betting shops and casinos will pay a proposed fee of around 0.4 percent.”
The government said it will release its plans in April to fight problem gambling and update regulations that date back to 2005. These regulations seldom address gambling on mobile platforms and online that can be placed with a click.
The proposed levy, which originated from the Gambling Act white paper, would fund new programs of the National Health Service (NHS.) It would, says the government, raise an estimated 100 million pounds ($121 million) annually.
In a statement the BGC declared, “Indeed we proposed this to the Government ahead of the White Paper. Our industry has been the majority funder of RET for over 20 years.”
It added that the levy, “should apply to all operators, including the National Lottery, without affecting good causes, who are not immune to having problem gamblers gamble with their products like scratch cards and instant win games.”
The BGC added that the levy should be based on a sliding scale, with brick-and-mortar operations paying a lower percentage. Such operations, which include independent betting shops, are still recovering from the effects of the Covid pandemic and pay higher fixed costs, it says.
It added, “There must also be adequate oversight to ensure levy funds are only distributed to charities and organizations delivering genuine RET services to ensure long-term, sustainable funding – including protecting existing third sector providers who are already doing vital work and who may now be at risk.”
