Betfred has threatened to shut all betting shops across the United Kingdom if plans for tax harmonisation are made official.
The firm’s co-founder and chairman Fred Done, who set up Betfred back in 1967 with his brother, admitted 7,500 jobs are at risk.
Done told the BBC that 300 of his shops were “currently losing money” and claimed a 5% increase on gambling taxes would raise that number to 430.
All 1,287 Betfred shops could disappear from the UK high street if Chancellor Rachel Reeves follows through on proposals to create one single rate for online gambling tax.
As it stands, operators are taxed at 15% of gross profit on racing and pool betting which increases to 21% for casino games and slot machines – but Reeves is expected combine the two with a levy of over 30%.
Last month Reeves argued gambling operators “should pay their fair share” and MPs believe higher duties on the industry can fund scrapping the two-child benefit cap, which restricts tax credit and universal tax credit to the first two children in most households.
Betfred aren’t the only major bookmaker in the UK to hit the headlines in this regard as just last week Paddy Power announced it was closing 57 betting shops across the UK and Ireland.
Earlier this month the operator behind William Hill, Evoke, said it was preparing to close up to 200 shops due to the tax hike and Entain, the group that owns Ladbrokes and Coral, towed a similar line.
Some believe that the Labour party are way off with their estimates and analysts fear that plans for tax harmonisation could actually backfire and lead to a reduction in income for the government.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggested raising gambling taxes could generate £3.2 billion extra per year, but Regulus Partners have questioned the maths and statistics used by MPs in support for the proposal – countering that the figure is much closer to £2.1 billion.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
