Online Casino Transfer: News - UK Tax Laws Considered

01/15/2010		Online Casino Style: News UK Tax Laws Considered
Home History Games News Dictionary		While no tax system is perfect, a change in the levy rules in Britain could very well have a severe reaction with the casino industry on the island. Outlined in a comprehensive article in the Guardian newspaper this week, Victoria Coren goes into great detail in regards to the future of live poker card rooms in the region, opining that the changes made by the government on tax rates for poker profits could effectively kill the game in Great Britain, or at the very least send poker players to the internet gambling world for their fixes. Previously, the government required only Value Added Taxes be paid on poker games, because by definition, poker is a ‘service’ provided by live casinos, and not a product. While other games like roulette and craps require staff and management as well as the distinction that players are playing against the house, trying to gain a marginal advantage against all odds, poker players face off against one another, with the dealer simply providing the service as well as the table. Tax law changes now designate the game the same as all the others, and the Value Added Tax is no more. Full rate levies must now be paid on all poker games, and all casinos offering the former service have been subjected to the alteration. According to Coren, the distinction is a grey and infuriating area. The change in law is enough to financially hurt the casinos, but does not actually generate enough money for the government to be of any significant help. Her exemplifies the Victoria Casino in London, which was once known as the poker headquarters in Britain, though recent years has seen much of their regular business deflect to online gambling. “It's just big enough to cripple the Vic,” writes Coren. It has cost them an extra million (GBP) so far this year. If poker is as expensive for them as roulette, while being so much less lucrative, why should they bother to keep having it?” She is urging local players to write to their legislators, stating that if they don’t the end of live poker could be seen in 2010.

01/15/2010

Online Casino Style: News
UK Tax Laws Considered

While no tax system is perfect, a change in the levy rules in Britain could very well have a severe reaction with the casino industry on the island. Outlined in a comprehensive article in the Guardian newspaper this week, Victoria Coren goes into great detail in regards to the future of live poker card rooms in the region, opining that the changes made by the government on tax rates for poker profits could effectively kill the game in Great Britain, or at the very least send poker players to the internet gambling world for their fixes.

Previously, the government required only Value Added Taxes be paid on poker games, because by definition, poker is a ‘service’ provided by live casinos, and not a product. While other games like roulette and craps require staff and management as well as the distinction that players are playing against the house, trying to gain a marginal advantage against all odds, poker players face off against one another, with the dealer simply providing the service as well as the table. Tax law changes now designate the game the same as all the others, and the Value Added Tax is no more. Full rate levies must now be paid on all poker games, and all casinos offering the former service have been subjected to the alteration.

According to Coren, the distinction is a grey and infuriating area. The change in law is enough to financially hurt the casinos, but does not actually generate enough money for the government to be of any significant help. Her exemplifies the Victoria Casino in London, which was once known as the poker headquarters in Britain, though recent years has seen much of their regular business deflect to online gambling.

“It's just big enough to cripple the Vic,” writes Coren. It has cost them an extra million (GBP) so far this year. If poker is as expensive for them as roulette, while being so much less lucrative, why should they bother to keep having it?” She is urging local players to write to their legislators, stating that if they don’t the end of live poker could be seen in 2010.