Clause 8 - General betting duty: restriction of exemption for on-course bets
Finance Bill
2:45 pm
Mr John Healey (Economic Secretary, HM Treasury; Wentworth, Labour)
On-course betting was taken out of the scope of general betting duty in 1987. The intention was to promote a healthy betting market at race courses and greyhound tracks, which is an important factor in generating the starting prices for horse races and greyhound races. The starting prices are used to determine the odds in high street bookmakers up and down the country.
That concession was welcome, well-judged and well-targeted. In recent years, however, the on-course exemption has increasingly been used at other sporting venues where betting is not the main source of attraction and where no comparable starting price mechanism is at work. Members of the Committee will probably be aware that bookmakers are based in stalls within most football grounds, golf tournaments and cricket grounds, and it does not make sense for them to benefit from the same on-course exemption.
We signalled our intention to review the scope of the on-course exemption when we introduced the gross profits tax in 2001 and we have consulted extensively
since then. We have received no responses to the consultation supporting the continuation of current arrangements. By restricting the on-course exemption to bets made on horse racing and greyhound racing, we are restoring and strengthening the rationale behind the original concession. We are satisfied that the measure will have little adverse impact on the ability of bookmakers at other sporting venues to continue to flourish and I stress that it will have no impact on punters, who will continue to be able to enjoy tax-free betting at those venues.