UK land-based operators will receive nearly £ 1 billion after confirming that taxes paid by FOBT terminals were excessive for 8 years
In these days of uncertainty for the sector, land-based gaming operators in the United Kingdom have received great news from the Public Treasury: who has announced that they will not appeal the decision of a Court that had determined that from 2005 to 2013 the operators of betting rooms had been paying more VAT than necessary at their FOBT terminals. William Hill, GVC, Betfred and Flutter are expected to be able to recover nearly a billion pounds together.
William Hill could receive up to £ 150 million in consideration for the UK's highest-collected taxes between 2005 and 2013. Taxes that would be related to the collection of the famous FOBT (Fixed Odds Betting Terminals) terminals. And is that the highest tax authority in the country (HM Revenue and Customs or HMRC) has decided not to appeal against the ruling of the Justice, which determined that the gaming companies had paid too much VAT for money collected in FOBT for more than 8 years.
Recall that a year ago the UK government introduced a maximum stake limit of £ 2 in FOBTs, lowering the revenue of this product by almost 150% and leaving operators and companies in the sector in a very compromised situation.
Following this news, it is estimated that the UK gaming sector as a whole will still recover up to £ 1bn in excess of VAT paid. In fact, the court claims that the VAT increase on FOBTs that was authorized in 2005 "violated tax neutrality as similar games in casinos & online were exempt from tax"
While William Hill sees a net cash recovery of between £ 125m and £ 150m possible, other operators such as Flutter, Betfred (who originally brought this decision to court), GVC - the owner of Ladbrokes Coral - will also recover significant amounts in which is undoubtedly a boost for the industry, which has seen the shares of its main operators listed on the London Stock Exchange rise sharply.
