Bookie: “We rely on FOBTs”
A London bookmaker says a planned change in the gaming tax could drive him out of business.
Keith Tomlin, who runs three shops in Derby County, told the Derby Telegraph that a hike in the duty rate set to take effect in March could disable his business and put people out of work.
A 25 percent duty on fixed-odds betting terminals was approved last April and will go into effect this March.
“I’m now 69 and I’m working 12 hours a day,” Tomlin told the Telegraph. “If this change to the duty comes in, then 70 percent of bookies would shut?and that includes shops from the big companies. I don’t think I could carry on as a business.”
Tomlin said he is the only remaining independent bookmaker in the city and has been in business for a half-century. He said the only reason he’s been able to stick around is because of fixed-odds betting machines. Critics of FOBTs say they are deliberately placed in poorer areas, according to poll results released in April 2014 by the Courier newspaper. Some 63 percent of respondents said fixed-odds betting terminals lead to problem gambling.
But Tomlin said the business relies on FOBTs. “The new change in legislation would take 25 percent of the money we make on the machines?and it’s them keeping us going. It’s very concerning. We already struggle because people are using their tablets and betting online a lot more, so we’ve seen a loss in trade. This legislation would finish us off.”
Last year, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne raised the tax from 20 percent to 25 percent. Anticipating the tax hike, William Hill closed up more than 100 shops in 2014. Hundreds of smaller betting shops closed in 2013 due to a migration of play to the internet.
