Horse racing to strike in protest against the planned gambling tax increase of the government

All planned racing in Great -Britain on September 10 will be canceled and the sport will in fact go strike, while racing escalates his protests against a proposal from the treasury to coordinate the rate of the duty of sports betting with the rate for many more addictive games of pure chance such as roulette and online slot machines.

The switch to leave meetings on Uttoxeter, Lingfield, Kempton and Carlisle is expected to result in the loss of around £ 700,000 for the industry.

The promotion, for the first time reported by timehas been agreed after cooperation between Jockey Club Racecourses, who operates Kempton and Carlisle; Arena Racing Company, the Operator of Uttoxeter and Lingfield; and the British horse racing, the prevailing body of the sport.

Gambling on gambling is taxed at 21% of an operator’s gross profit, while the duty on bets – on racing, sports and other events without a fixed profit margin for the operator – is set at 15%. There is an additional costs of 10% of the gross profit for bets on British racing for the legal levy, which has returned money to racing since off-course gambling was legalized in the early sixties.

The proposal to equalize the duty percentage for gambling and gaming products was initially driven by the treasury in the last months of the conservative government of Rishi Sunak, but it survived the transition to a labor administration and was the subject of a consultation process that was concluded in July.

Betting and gaming have been treated separately for tax purposes since the GOK and Gaming Act in 1961 came into effect. There is a widespread conviction in racing that a leveling of the duty percentages will make sport more expensive for gambling operators and as a result, much less attractive compared to gaming products with a guaranteed return.

Alternatives to the tax regime on gambling include a proposal from the Social Market Foundation Think tank that the gaming obligation can be increased to 50% and sports betting up to 25%, with changes in the tax system ensuring that racing would not lose.

The former Premier Gordon Brown has also advocated a significant increase in the duty that is charged on gaming products with fixed margins.

Brant Dunshea, the acting Chief Executive of the BHA, launched the campaign of the British Pimony Authority against the tax proposals last month and said that the stakeholders of the sport were “united in their opposition to the treasury’s proposals to harmonize the gambling duties”. Dunshea added: “If the Chancellor delivers this tax bomb in the autumn budget, not only jobs will be lost, but the future of the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain will be in danger.

“This is why it is vital that the government carefully takes into account the argument of all stakeholders of British Racing and works together with us to protect a cherished national institution.” The races that were lost on 10 September is expected to be added to other cards that are planned around the same time.

The date that was chosen for the “strike” race is 24 hours before the start of the controversial ST Army meeting at Doncaster, who attended the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and his wife, Victoria, a avid racefan, last year.