Uk Gambling Tax Free 2019
Uk Gambling Tax Free States

Latest news: Gambling Commission welcomes publication of Gambling Act Review Call for Evidence We license and regulate the people and businesses that provide gambling in Great Britain including the National Lottery.
Gambling duties File your gambling tax return Log in to your HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC ) online account and file your returns for General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty or Remote Gaming Duty.

If you live in the UK, our tax laws mean that you can gamble tax-free, without a single worry. Generally speaking, it isn’t very likely that this will ever change—taxing gambling winnings will never be viable for the UK. Betting Tax Abolished in 2001 Owing to a downturn in the British gambling economy duty to tax-free gambling which was now available to UK residents through offshore sites, Brown decided to scrap the levy and, instead, tax the operators more.

25/02/2015, by Julie Butler, FCA, Tax Articles - Income Tax

Rate:

Rating: 5/5 from 2 people

Can gambling be taxed as earnings? Julie Butler considers a recent case on gambling which covers issues frequently raised in the TaxationWeb forum.

Gambling and Taxation

Essentially betting is ‘tax-free’ in the UK – the professional gambler is outside the scope of tax. This is confirmed in HMRC’s Business Income Manual at BIM22015. The basic position is that betting and gambling, as such, do not constitute trading. This is not a new precedent either. Rowlatt J said in Graham v Green (1925) 9 TC 309: “A bet is merely an irrational agreement that one person should pay another person on the happening of an event.”

This decision has stood the test of time. In an Australian case, Evans v FCT (1989) 20 ATC 4540, Hill J said: “There has been no decision of a court in Australia nor, so far as I am aware, in the United Kingdom where it has been held that a mere punter was carrying on a business.”

A recent case has tested this principle. In Hakki v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2014] EWCA Civ 530 Mr Hakki was a professional poker player who made a living from his poker winnings. An order for Mr Hakki to pay child maintenance was applied for through the Child Support Agency by the mother of his children (Mrs Blair).

In accordance with the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (SSCBA 1992) s2(1)(b) and the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 Mr Hakki opposed the application on the grounds that his poker winnings did not constitute ‘earnings’ from gainful employment and therefore he was not a self-employed earner, i.e., the profits arose from gambling.

It is very interesting to note that the Upper Tribunal found that for the purposes of SSCBA 1992, gambling could be a trade, profession or vocation, and that Mr Hakki could be said to be ‘gainfully employed’ as a ‘self-employed earner’ and therefore should pay child maintenance to Mrs Blair.

Mr Hakki appealed to the Court of Appeal. Mrs Blair’s barrister argued that Hakki’s poker playing amounted to a trade similar to that of a professional golfer or tennis player. The barrister relied on the findings that Mr Hakki:

Set a target sum to win after which he stopped;
Selected the table which was most likely to pay him;
Appeared on a television programme about poker for a few weeks, made it to the final and won a prize;
Was the owner of his own website and communicated his strategies for online poker;
Had his poker results over seven or eight years published on two other poker websites; and
Chose the locations for playing poker.

The Court of Appeal found that even collectively these findings do not amount to such organisation as to constitute a trade, profession or vocation. The Court of Appeal found that gambling is not a trade and the factors surrounding Mr Hakki must be common to many successful gamblers, e.g., choice of location, setting target sums and the table most likely to pay. It was found that isolated appearances on television and Mr Hakki having his own website was not in 2014 evidence of organisation amounting to a trade or profession. It is also very interesting to note that the court was persuaded that it is possible to accept a case in which a gambler’s winnings might be taxable, but it found that in this case there was no organised seeking of emoluments and therefore no gainful employment.

This case adds to the ongoing discussion about whether a gambler in certain circumstances can be taxed on his or her winnings.

Will there be future legislation that brings gambling profits into the scope of taxation? There has apparently been nothing to indicate that this is under review despite the advent of very sophisticated techniques to make substantial profits from gambling. It has to be asked, what is “the case” that the courts can find as taxable? Is that perhaps the case with sophisticated software?

Back to Tax Articles

Comments

Please register or log in to add comments.

more...

Uk Gambling Tax Free 2019

Latest Tax News and Articles

Click on the button below to get the most burning tax topics delivered to your email.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Verified By

Whether you gamble no more than a few quid per year or are an internationally known poker player, the United Kingdom is a great place to call home. Not only is gambling completely legal and fully regulated in the UK, but you’ll be able to keep whatever you win. Although it might seem hard to fathom, gambling winnings are tax free for players in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England. As you might expect, HM Revenue and Customs have no reason to cry poor, as they claim a sizable share by levying duties on gambling operators. Keep reading to learn all about the tax situation in Britain.

Is Gambling Taxable In The UK?

No, gambling is tax free in the UK. While players in some countries such as the USA, France, and Macau have to deal with gambling taxes between 1% and 25%, bettors in the United Kingdom have the privilege of keeping the entirety of their winnings. As a matter of fact, both online and offline gamblers in Britain don’t have to waste their time thinking about taxes. If you’ve been gambling for a while, you might recall dealing with betting duties years ago, except Gordon Brown, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, scrapped that tax in 2001. Thanks to the sudden rise and perceived threat of offshore betting earlier this century, the government was effectively forced to enact several changes. Yet this move was just one of many important developments. The government also passed the Gambling Act 2005, established the UK Gambling Commission, and started regulating online casinos.

If you live in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, your gambling winnings are tax free whether you play live or on the internet.

Did you know the UK government makes a virtual killing from gambling? In the 2017-18 fiscal year alone, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs raked in £2.9-billion in gaming-related duty. Although that figure includes lotteries, betting, and live as well as remote gaming, that’s an astronomical amount. A great deal of that revenue comes from the 15% tax levy gambling operators must pay. While you don’t have to worry about paying taxes when you win or lose, the government does tax betting shops, poker rooms, casinos, and other related establishments on their profits. Even though players don’t pay these fees directly, in many ways they are built into the odds. Nonetheless, it’s nice that you can concentrate on playing your favourite games instead of dealing with complicated tax forms.

UK players do not pay taxes on their gambling winnings.
The previous betting duty was abolished in 2001.
Gambling sites now pay a 15% levy on their earnings.
The government netted £2.9 billion in gambling duties during 2017/18.
HMRC draws no distinction between pro and amateur players.
If you gamble outside of Britain you may need to deal with foreign tax laws.
The