Government rejects cut in UK Bingo Hall tax - Online Bingo News

The severe economic climate is not set to improve for internet bingo Halls across the UK, who had hoped that the government might relent after a series of strong complaints about the extra VAT imposed on the land-based UK Bingo industry.Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming had taken up the cause of UK Bingo Halls, asking for the extra VAT be scrapped, as the Bingo industry overall tax rates amount to 32% in comparison to other sectors of the gambling industry with a much lower rate of just 15%.

As reported by the BBC today, the government has decided that the VAT rate for the Bingo industry will remain the same, and does not accept that the higher VAT rate is the root cause of the current problems faced by the online bingo industry as a whole.Mr Hemming said that scrapping VAT for the Bingo industry would only cost the government about £10 million, and that more than 100 Bingo Halls had closed over the last six years claiming more than 3,500 job losses. He also claimed that ministers 'had it in' for the industry and it's predominantly working-class members.



Secretary to the Exchequer, Angela Eagle, ruled that altering the VAT rate for the Bingo industry would not solve any problems, and claimed that the actual tax rate for the industry stands at 25% not the 32% as claimed by Mr Hemming.Ms Eagle said that other sectors of the gambling industry were subject to different forms of taxation, and that the free bingo sector is subject to the average level of taxation across most gambling forms.

The injunction means that IPLC will be unable to enforce the closure of the bingo hall as indicated by a resolution passed in December 2008 until a local judge has heard Codere’s appeal against IPLC’s decision. In the meantime, the bingo hall will continue to operate as normal, Codere told Spain’s financial regulator, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) in casino games .

Codere maintains that it has previously received written communication from IPLC informing them that Codere is fully compliant with all requirements for a renewal of the La Plata licence, leading chief financial officer Robert Gray to accuse IPLC of “acting in an arbitrary manner” in refusing to grant the company a new licence. Gray told analysts during a recent results presentation that the company would be “aggressively appealing” the licence rejection.