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local
news
Malta-based
British bookies to remain, for now
By
David Lindsay
Speculation over whether British betting agencies operating their
Internet-based arms out of Malta would choose to repatriate to the
UK, following a drastic slash to the UK's betting tax regime, has
caused a good deal of anxiety to those employed in Malta with agencies
such as Stanley Leisure and Unibet.
However, the 10 British betting companies licensed in Malta are
not expected to repatriate to the UK and Finance Minister John Dalli
firmly believes that Malta's incentives toward the industry still
offer competitive advantages.
The change Britain's betting tax regime has been brought in to stem
the loss of betting turnover attributed to the offshore market,
such as that present in Malta, which already offers tax-free betting.
However, in Wednesday's UK budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Gordon Brown slashed the high tax imposed on the betting industry
in Britain, the determining factor in the presence of such high-grossing
Internet betting facilities being based in low-tax Malta. The predicted
slash had led to a good deal of speculation as to whether such Malta-based
betting agencies would choose to evacuate the islands.
It was offshore businesses, such as those coveted in Malta for developing
a solid Maltese e-commerce sector, which prompted the British government's
search for an alternative betting tax regime.
According to the UK Budget, British punters will be able to bet
tax-free in the UK without off-via the Internet including through
some companies based in Malta.
However, the betting duty cut announced on Wednesday is not expected
to stop UK punters betting offshore and the proposed 15 per cent
tax on gross profits is simply another stealth tax.
UK Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that the current law, in which
the government collects a betting duty of 6.75 per cent from bookmakers
and is passed on to betting shop punters as a nine per cent tax,
has been shelved.
Mr Brown gave the news that the industry was waiting for when he
said that bookmakers would be taxed on their gross profits at a
rate of 15 per cent.
The Maltese government's recently introduced e-commerce legislation
is aimed at capitalising on the sector's potential. According to
Finance Minister John Dalli, the Finance Ministry has taken steps
to be part of e-commerce, and has taken steps in the form of establishing
a competitive package, coupled with strong regulation and compliance
procedures for companies choosing to set up betting operations in
Malta.
The setting up of the e-commerce framework in Malta began around
a year ago and, over the past 12 months, a considerable number of
applications have been processed.
However, Malta's e-commerce aspirations lie not only in Internet-based
betting and the government's e-commerce legislation may also prove
vital to other budding Internet-based sectors – such as the
massive and relatively untouched retail sector.
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