Bookmaker backs proposed 2% online revenue tax

BRITISH bookmaker William Hill has thrown its support behind the proposed 2% revenue tax on betting firms’ online operations in Ireland.

The company finally launched its long-awaited dedicated Irish website yesterday, a move the firm hopes will regenerate its Irish operations after a series of shop closures over the past couple of years.

After the launch, Cathal McCarthy, chief financial officer of William Hill.com, said that the company is not against the principle of an Irish tax on online revenues (even for overseas firms) and could absorb it without incurring a significant hit to its bottom line.

Recently, Paddy Power — the dominant player in both the online and retail sectors of the Irish betting and gaming sector — said that it would be in favour of the tax, so long as it is equally applied to all players in the market. Its concern is that only it and Boyle Sports might end up paying the levy as it could be near impossible to tax the 80% of the online betting operators who are domiciled outside of Ireland.

One of those, William Hill, has its online base in Gibraltar and has previously pulled out of the French online betting market due to what it viewed as an exorbitant 8% tax rate on revenues.

Mr McCarthy said yesterday that he expects the Irish Government to act sensibly in putting in place any tax, in the knowledge that if the rate were too high the likes of William Hill and Ladbrokes would simply close their Irish online operations.

He added that William Hill is confident about the prospects for its new Irish online venture, saying that there is enough consumer demand for another high profile player in the market.

“We know there’s a clear market leader here, but we feel its easier to grow from a small base [the company does have an existing growing online business here] than from a dominant position,” he said.