Tax could hit bookie’s job plans

BOOKMAKER Paddy Power has said that its plans to increase staff numbers here could be scuppered by the Government’s plan to impose a tax on income from gaming companies’ online betting divisions.

Last week, the Taoiseach indicated that an online tax could be introduced – a move which would replace the previously mooted levy on over-the-counter retail income.

The online tax – which would hit Paddy Power’s annual operating profits by about €5 million – has been tentatively accepted by the company, however management has expressed concern that it may not be executed on a level playing field.

The fear is that it would only cover companies domiciled here and would not cover those who are tax resident in other countries but who still do significant business in Ireland.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting in Dublin, yesterday, Paddy Power chief executive Patrick Kennedy said that the firm is planning to increase its international workforce by 750 over the next three years. Around 350 of these positions are earmarked for Ireland.

Mr Kennedy said that an uneven tax system could “effectively be a tax on Irish jobs” and warned that the new Irish positions could be moved elsewhere as a result – although he stopped short of saying the company had plans to move its online operations abroad for tax purposes.

The company employs around 700 people at its Tallaght headquarters.

Mr Kennedy added that it was very much the hope of the company that it could continue to add new jobs in Ireland.

Meanwhile, Paddy Power also released an interim management statement yesterday, showing that the company has had a positive first half to the year.

Up to the middle of this month, the company said that it has seen “a very strong revenue performance in online and good bet volume growth across all channels.” It added that operating profit in the year-to-date is modestly ahead of expectations.

The company’s share price was unmoved at €26 yesterday. There was a 19% year-on-year rise in the amount of money betted with the company’s online avenue in the first five months of this year, but its Irish retail division saw a 2% decrease in stake amounts.