Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (UK) have opened the point of consumption tax floodgates, by announcing an online registration service, for all gambling entities willing to do business with customers in the UK, after the new law comes into place 1 Dec 2014.
Christmas.
That wonderful time of the year that people all over the world go deep into debt buying Christmas presents that nobody event wants.
December has always been the most costly month of the year, and never more so for gambling companies that want to do with business with British punters.
From the 1 Dec 2014 the new Point of Consumption Tax (POC) comes into effect, meaning that online gambling companies, doing business from their low taxed offshore locations, will now have to part with 15% of the money spent by punters using their services who are based in the UK.
Happy Christmas HMRC.
In preparation for the Christmas crackers, inedible pudding, and bucket loads of cash. The HMRC have created an online registration service so online gambling companies have a secure, and legal way, of offloading 15% of their hard earned profit to the UK government coffers.
The new online portal applies to companies that need to register for Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) (casino games, bingo and online poker), General Betting Duty (GBD) (fixed and pools betting on the horses and the dogs), and Pool Betting Duty (PBD) (pool betting other than horses and dogs and non-fixed odds betting).
In an article on SBCNews, Sally Beggs, HMRC Deputy Director, Gambling Taxes, commented: “These new rules mean that all remote gambling businesses, whether based in the UK or elsewhere, will be taxed on the same basis. This will provide a level playing field so that all gambling by UK consumers is subject to UK tax. If your business is affected by these changes, you should register online as soon as possible and review your systems and procedures, in readiness for 1 December.”
Online gambling companies willing to pay the 15% POC have already started contacting their clients to advise them of the impending changes. One of which, PokerStars, opened their .uk client on 3 Nov 2014.
The registration process, and access point, can be found here.
