Key points:
- £100m levy on gambling companies could be announced this week and take effect next April
- This would replace the current voluntary levy
According to reports, the UK Government will announce the £100m ($125.87m) levy on gambling companies this week.
The statutory levy, which was set out in the UK White Paper, would see online gambling operators pay 1% of their gross gambling yield, while traditional betting shops and casinos would pay around 0.4%; this is slated to bring in approximately £100m a year for research, education and treatment for gambling harms.
Reports claim Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross could announce this on Wednesday, with Labour set to follow through with the initiative set out by the previous Government, and that it could take effect from next April.
The voluntary levy has faced criticism owing to some operators contributing as little as £1 towards research, prevention and treatment, with NHS England and GambleAware in June last year voicing its support for the compulsory levy on operators.
Good to know: The Gambling Commission's new rules on areas such as financial risk checks and direct marketing are set to be implemented in the coming months
Gambling Insider reached out to the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) for its response on the matter.
A spokesperson said: “The BGC previously proposed a mandatory levy and we welcomed the Government’s announcement for a new system of payments with continued independence of funding allocation.
“The BGC remains concerned that there should be a sliding scale for land based businesses that have much higher fixed costs, such as staff and premises, and that funding for longstanding, expert providers of Research Prevention and Treatment services in the third sector is protected.”
