BUDGET 2012: BETTING TAX
The Government hopes to raise €14m in 2012 by extending the 1% betting tax to cover offshore, online and phone betting, augmenting the €26m the state currently derives from betting shops.
The Sunday Business Post says the Government expects to raise €12m from online gambling and a further €2m from betting exchanges next year.
“This reflects the times we are in, as more and more people are betting online, on iPads, computers and phones. We need to find newer ways to deal with that,” Simon Coveney, the minister responsible for the horse racing and greyhound industries told the newspaper.
Coveney is also considering the introduction of a tax on winnings and a doubling of the betting levy to 2%.
“The likelihood is that we will stay at the current rate to bed down the model for online tax, and then look at the question of increasing the rate and other mechanisms of raising revenue,” he said.