Budget measure relating to betting Annex I Applying Betting Duty to Offshore Betting Betting Duty has to date only applied to bets placed in betting shops with bets placed by Irish punters either online or over the phone, essentially with offshore entities, falling outside the tax. The Minister signalled some time ago that this situation needed to be addressed. In addition, work underway by the Department of Justice has been progressing on a proper licensing regime which will serve to protect vulnerable people. The Government intends to include provisions in the Finance Bill and revise the Betting Act 1931 to ensure that all bookmakers taking bets from Ireland will pay 1% betting duty on those bets in the same way that betting shops currently do. Betting Exchanges will also be subject to tax under the new arrangements but the calculation of the tax will differ from that applying to bookmakers. The Minister is hopeful that by including the high-growth area of the betting sector, particularly given the increasing prevalence of smart phones, the tax base from betting will be boosted significantly. In a full year it is expected that the tax yield could grow up to €20 million depending on the prevailing market conditions. Just as important is the positive signal this measure will convey to international betting operations that have expressed an interest in or have already invested in Ireland. A location with an appropriate licensing framework coupled with relatively low taxes provides real investment and employment opportunities in this sector. The details will be contained in the Finance Bill and the proposed amendments to the Betting Act.
