Paddy Power to get €13m refund

IRISH gaming giant Paddy Power is to receive a cash-based tax refund of around €13 million later this year — over 10% of its 2010 operating profit — relating its operations in Australia.

Australia’s Federal Court recently ruled in favour of an appeal by the Dublin-headquartered bookmaking group against unclear legislation surrounding the payment of goods and services tax, which is the Australian equivalent of VAT, for gaming companies.

The appeal was made on behalf of Paddy Power’s Australian subsidiaries, Sportsbet and IAS and the refund relates to goods and services tax, paid by those two companies between October 2005 and the same month in 2009.