Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association to Contest New UK Federal Gaming Tax
Published June 25, 2014 by OCR Editor
The vulnerability of user information is at the heart of the challenge to the new UK 15% tax.
The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) will legally contest the UK government over incoming licensing and tax regulations.
Letter drafted
GBGA has written a letter to UK Secretary of State for Culture that it will be seeking a judicial review for what it calls “unlawful” licensing mandates.
The association claims that a new 15% point of consumption tax violate European law due to the fact that they potentially leave British gamblers vulnerable to so-called “unscrupulous operators.”
Law Would Add a New Gaming Regulatory Body
The tax, expected to bring in roughly £300 million to government coiffures, will be challenged by GBGA lawyers at Olswang out of concern that bookmakers may react by relocating to Britain from Gibraltar to avoid dealing with two separate regulatory bodies.
Chief GBGA Executive Peter Howitt expresses concern that “impact of this legislation will ...drive UK consumers towards unregulated or poorly regulated operators, leaving them exposed to unnecessary risks.”
Identified Risks
A rushed relocation would cause potentially insecure, incomplete or untested encryption systems to be hastily put together by operators, endangering the protection of user financial information in the high volume and growing online gaming industry.
With the notice of judicial review, the UK government and UK Gambling Commission have two weeks to answer the legal challenge, whose true weight remains to be seen.
