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Isle Of Man Online Gambling Deal With UK Government

Isle Of Man Online Gambling Deal With UK Government

Added: September 8, 2014

The provisions of the new United Kingdom gambling act will come into effect on December 1, 2014. This is creating quite a bit of confusion and turmoil among those online gambling operators servicing players from the United Kingdom, but that are licensed by offshore jurisdictions. Isle of Man is an important jurisdiction for licensing online gambling operators. It has bucked the trend of opposition by arriving at a mutually beneficial deal with the British government.

The cooperative deal between the governments of Isle of Man and Britain, permits online gambling operators licensed in the Isle of Man and accessing the UK market to function without appointing a UK representative to account for any general betting duty, pool betting duty or remote gaming duty liabilities which may become due under the incoming new point-of-consumption tax regime in the UK. Isle of Man Treasury Minister Eddie Teare made this announcement last week. He clarified that an agreement had been reached with the UK Revenue and Customs department, which would be given effect by an order made under the Gambling Duty Act 2012. This would then be placed before Tynwald, the Isle of Man parliament, for approval. Once this is done, then the Customs and Excise Division of the Treasury of the Isle of Man government would be able to recover any such liabilities, if needed.

Minister Teare explained the problematic situation that would arise in the absence of the agreement. Isle of Man operators with customers in the UK would have to appoint a UK representative to be jointly liable for any duty debt. Alternatively, they would have to provide security themselves to the UK Revenue and Customs department for any potential debt. Teare said, “The agreement is a further example of government being proactive in supporting a successful sector of the island’s economy. It also serves to illustrate the good standing of the island’s gambling sector, whose regulation has been recognized by the UK authorities of being of the highest standard.”

Gibraltar is another important online gambling licensing jurisdiction. Unlike Isle of Man, the authority in Gibraltar has decided to challenge the new UK gambling act in British courts. Meanwhile offshore licensed online casinos servicing players in the United Kingdom have indicated that they will withdraw this service. They will not take on board new players from the United Kingdom and are asking existing players to withdraw funds and close accounts. Some of these online casinos may open special portals for British players that are licensed within the United Kingdom.