UK Gambling & Tax

Simmo!

Paleo Meister (means really, really old)
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
England
Hi all

This is one for the UK players and may already be a known fact but thought i'd share it anyway. I popped into my local Inland Revenue office this morning and asked if winnings i made from either UK or overseas casinos (normal and online) were tax-deductable.

After a couple of phone calls, i was informed that any winnings i made weren't taxable, although if they were substantial i may be asked to prove i wasn't money-laundering! Fair play. I was a bit surprised actually...thought they'd want a slice fo the action but there you go...what do i know :)

Cheers

Simmo!

PS...As an afterthought, what could be interesting, theoretically at least, is Affiliate revenue. If its paid into a NETeller account or my casino account, when i withdraw its showing as coming from my gambling activities. Guess thats whats called "pushing your luck"....;)
 
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Tax deductible winnings? That would be really nice! :D

I thought it was well-known that gambling winnings are not taxable in the UK (unless you are doing it as business like a bookmaker or a casino). This is one of the reasons why financial spread betting is so popular, since it is classified as gambling and thus avoids capital gains tax.

I am not an accountant, but I believe affiliate revenue should be treated as business income regardless how it is paid, but you can deduct your business expenses.
 
When you think about it, its kinda funny. The US broke away from the UK over unreasonable taxation (amongst other things), and here we are taxing people on their gambling winnings while the UK doesn't. What's wrong with this picture??
 
Now let's have the truth her guys....... :rolleyes:

Did ANY of you claim the profits you made gambling online or wrote off or attempted to write off the losses? :oops:

MMMMmmmmmm :cool:
 
lanidar said:
Now let's have the truth her guys....... :rolleyes:

Did ANY of you claim the profits you made gambling online or wrote off or attempted to write off the losses? :oops:

MMMMmmmmmm :cool:

No hablo ingles!
 
GrandMaster said:
Tax deductible winnings? That would be really nice! :D

lol yeah - slip of the brain for a minute there GM :)


markey111 said:
all uk gambling is tax free has been for a few years now

Apparently so Markey. I'd heard about the recent laws regarding no tax on sports betting etc but wasn't sure if playing online casinos, including those that are licenced over in Gibraltar or outside the UK, was included. But they are. This is good :thumbsup:
 
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All gambling taxes in the UK are paid by the operator not the player. The government earns millions each year from gambling taxes. The sports betting tax (it was 9% added to any stakes or returns) changed in response to offshore companies offering zero tax bets and UK companies not being able to compete (so they all went offshore, much to the dismay of customs & excise who collect the tax). they came back when they did a deal with the government
As for 'offshore' winnings - it just follows the same UK law - ie all winnings won from gambling is tax free

Its the same for 'prizes' - including big money lottery prizes and TV show prizes - all exempt from any tax
 
drkasper said:
All gambling taxes in the UK are paid by the operator not the player. The government earns millions each year from gambling taxes. The sports betting tax (it was 9% added to any stakes or returns) changed in response to offshore companies offering zero tax bets and UK companies not being able to compete (so they all went offshore, much to the dismay of customs & excise who collect the tax). they came back when they did a deal with the government
As for 'offshore' winnings - it just follows the same UK law - ie all winnings won from gambling is tax free

Its the same for 'prizes' - including big money lottery prizes and TV show prizes - all exempt from any tax

That's an interesting way to do it. So if I win a slots jackpot of say $10,000 (or pounds), instead of having to pay the 30% up front before I leave the casino like happens here in the US, are you saying the casino pays me the full $10,000 and then pays whatever percent to the government ($3k in my example)?
 
That's an interesting way to do it. So if I win a slots jackpot of say $10,000 (or pounds), instead of having to pay the 30% up front before I leave the casino like happens here in the US, are you saying the casino pays me the full $10,000 and then pays whatever percent to the government ($3k in my example)?

Something like that. You'll have to forgive me if I get some of it wrong - I'm no expert in tax and gambling tax is usually way too complicated for me.. But i'll try my best!

In the case of sports betting, the operators pay a Gross Profits tax of 15% (ie they're taxed on their gross profits/net stake receipts) as opposed to a tax on turnover (the original regime) - it has apparantly been a successful change.

Casino gaming is a tax on profits based on premises - gaming duty can be a maximum 40% of gross gaming yield (ie total value of stakes minus player's winnings)

Its different again for gaming/slot machines

Anyway, I hope thats not too confusing - its way too late to be talking tax - and if i'm wrong (probably somewhere along the line), I hope someone will correct me!

At the end of the day - its the operator that pays any gaming tax - we like it that way!
 

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