GAMBLING INSIDER

Global betting and gaming heavyweight GVC Holdings has announced that it will file an appeal against a potential €186.77m tax bill levied by the Greek government.

The dispute centres on tax payable by a number of its subsidiaries including Sportingbet plc during the period 2010 and 2011. Sportingbet was acquired by GVC Holdings in 2013.

In a statement, GVC claims that the tax calculation, made by the Greek Audit Centre for Large Enterprises is “substantially higher by multiples of the total Greek revenues generated by the subsidiary during the Period” and after seeking legal advice has decided to appeal the tax bill in the Greek courts.

To enable the group's Greek subsidiary to operate in the interim while the case is proceeding, GVC have confirmed their intention to enter into a voluntary payment scheme to pay approximately €7.8m a month over the next 24 months.

However GVC have confirmed that “entering into such an arrangement is not an admission that the Assessment is correct and the Group will seek to recover such payments.”

In order to make these payments, the GVC Holdings board instituted a provision to hive off approximately €200m in the group's 2017 financial accounts to cover the period up to the end of 2017.