How Much Is The Gambling Industry Worth Uk
A new report has revealed Britain’s gambling and betting industry is actually a key contributor to the UK economy, directly generating an average of £2.3 billion towards the UK GDP. Alarming UK Gambling Statistics, Sports Betting Data & Research 2020 Last updated January 1st, 2020 We asked people in the UK aged 18-54 about their interest in watching sports, betting on sports, and playing casino games. Lock, Nov 17, 2020 The gambling industry is growing in the United Kingdom (UK). The goss gambling yield (GGY) in Great Britain increased from roughly 8.4 billion British pounds in. Business Matters The gambling industry in the UK is increasing at a rapid pace. Indeed, the industry has increased from being worth 8.4 billion pounds in 2011 to roughly 14.4 billion in 2018. Why has this happened and what is pushing the increase?
The gambling industry in the UK is increasing at a rapid pace. Indeed, the industry has increased from being worth 8.4 billion pounds in 2011 to roughly 14.4 billion in 2018.
The buying up of dog tracks in the UK by online bookmakers for the purposes of streaming live racing is a positive sign the industry may recover and possibly even begin to grow again. It is estimated that bookies collectively make over £250,000,000 a year in profit with the treasury collecting over £60,000,000 from the sport.
Why has this happened and what is pushing the increase? Well, there are a number of factors to consider here.
The Impact Of The Growing Industry
The new growth of the gambling industry is certainly bringing benefits to the economy. In 2018, according to statistics by the Statista there were more than 100,000 people employed in the UK gambling industry. Interestingly, the majority of these employees were in the betting sector with the number exceeding 53,000.
There are also now over 8,400 betting premises throughout Britain and yearly off-course horse betting alone brings a turnover of 4.32bn.
Despite there being a substantial level of jobs and roles in this sector, it’s interesting to note that the majority of gambling businesses were run with less than ten people. This suggests that businesses can be quite small and easy to handle. As such, they could be the perfect option for younger individuals who are just starting to enter the market.
The Gambler Demographic
It is worth exploring the demographic of the typical gambler. It is perhaps unsurprising to note that the main population of gamblers are quite old, between the ages of 45 and 64. However, there have been signs that gambling is becoming more popular with a younger demographic. This is true despite the fact that cases of underage gambling have actually decreased significantly.
How Do People Gamble?
Perhaps one of the main driving forces for the increase in the gambling industry is the extended number of options. It’s true to say that gamblers have more possibilities than ever on how they want to place a bet. While they can visit a local business, it’s also now possible and easier than ever to gamble online. The online gambling industry has been increasing steadily over the past few years and more people than ever are choosing this route to place a bet.
In 2018, there were more than 36.6 million online gambling customer accounts. These were registered at facilities approved and licensed by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain. While you might assume that most of these accounts were inactive, research showed that 33.6 million had been used in the past year. This suggests that people are taking advantage of this possibility and using it regularly.
There is a massive variety of different online resources that people can use for gambling. Sites like 100Bestonlinecasinos provide information about the different possibilities, their benefits and the signup bonuses available to new customers.
As well as providing key information on the benefits of different resources, sites like this also help eliminate bad practices and rogue operators on the market. This is important as one poll revealed that trust in gambling has declined over the past seven years with many customers becoming cautious of unfair practices.
Changes In Government
The government has taken strikes to ensure that the growth of the gambling industry while also guarantee that issues with fixed-odds betting terminals are eliminated. For instance, the government has increased the tax for online gaming throughout 2019. At the same time, machines have been forced to lower the maximum stake.
This is estimated to help reduce the tax revenue by £1.5 billion over the next five years. Taxes on gambling operators located outside the UK are also set to increase to cover any potential losses. It’s currently unclear how these changes are going to impact the growth in the UK gambling industry. Many have suggested that a restructure will be necessary while some companies may struggle to keep the doors open.
Despite this, there is little sign of the popularity of gambling in the UK diminishing. Indeed, gambling is more popular than it has been in years and this is certain to help businesses cope with the coming changes. One change that we could see is the further decline of the high street bookie as more customers turn towards online possibilities.
It’s clear then that gambling is more popular than ever in the UK. This is undoubtedly due to an increase in available technology and more online options. Thanks to new tech it’s possible to gamble remotely on your phone or virtually any other tech device. It will be fascinating to see how far the gambling industry will spread over the upcoming decade and whether government changes will have an impact on the potential growth.
Photo by Keenan Constance on Unsplash
Gaming in many of its forms is perfectly legal in the UK through licensed operators. Stepping into a betting shop and placing a bet on a football game is practically a sport in itself in the UK.
How Much Is The Uk Betting Industry Worth
People play the lottery, head down to the local bingo centre, have a spin on the fruit machines at the pub, and place plenty of online bets through sophisticated and fun apps and websites.
Of course, with such a large gaming industry, the government is sure to get a piece of that sweet, sweet gaming pie. The UK taxes companies that offer online gambling services to people living in the UK, whether the company is located in the UK or not.
Let’s take a look at what they are taxing and how much they’re gaining from this lucrative trade.
Taxation of online gambling for UK-based companies
Taxation of online gambling in the UK by UK-based companies can fall under a number of different duty categories. While you might think that online bingo would be covered under Bingo Duty, it’s actually classified as Remote Gaming Duty and taxed at 15% of profits. The same goes for online casino gaming, like the casinos over at BossCasino. Lotteries are charged under Lottery Duty, at 12% of all stake money played and payable within the accounting period.
Taxation of online gambling for offshore companies offering betting in the UK
Under UK law, non-UK companies offering betting and/or gaming services to people living in the UK need to register with HM Revenue and Customs, as well as pay tax. There are a few exemptions.
For these offshore companies, they will be required to pay one or more of the following taxes: General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty, or Remote Gaming Duty.
General Betting Duty is derived from the profits from general or pool bets that are made by UK customers on horse or dog racing, or bets placed through an offshore betting exchange. The rates for GBD are:
- 15% for fixed odds and totalisator bets
- 3% for financial spread bets
- 10% for all other spread bets
- 15% of the commission charges charged by betting exchanges to users who are UK people
(source)
Pool Betting Duty is derived from profits made on bets that are not fixed odds and not to do with horse or dog racing. This type of tax is charged at 15% of profits.
Remote Gaming Duty is paid by operators for remote gaming profits on bets and games by UK customers, including casino games, freeplays and bingo. Remote Gaming Duty is also 15%.
Do gamblers have to pay tax on their winnings in the UK too?
How Much Is The Gambling Industry Worth Ukraine
Under UK laws, there is no taxation on any winnings from betting – meaning if you place an online gambling bet and win a fortune that you can keep every sweet penny of it and none of it has to go to the tax man. The previous taxation required on winnings was done away with way back in 2001. Some other countries and jurisdictions are far more strict. For instance, in Vegas, the rate is 30% for overseas visitors, and 25% for winning for citizens over $5000.
How much is the UK making from online gambling overall?
According to Statistica, betting and gaming tax receipts from the UK hit £2.7bn in 2017, over double the amount that it was just 10 years ago. While this figure doesn’t distinguish between in-person and on-premise bets compared to online gambling, this is a hefty figure.
In a report from the UK Gambling Commission in 2017, it says that remote gambling is the largest sector within the gambling industry, accounting for 34% of the overall market, with a gross gambling yield for the year standing at £4.7bn, with slot games making up a majority of this figure at £2.6bn.
If we take 15% of that original number of £4.7bn (15% being the taxable rate), we’ll see that it amounts to £705mn for the year. That’s a whole lot of money going back into the country’s coffers from remote gambling and the figure is only expected to climb with more and more companies offering services and more and more players getting in on the action.
When you think about it, 15% being fairly much the standard across the board for online gambling taxes in the UK isn’t really that much. Income tax rates for individuals in the UK are far higher, 20% and more, unless you’re earning under £11,850 per year, when it is 0%. £705mn only amounts to funding for one major infrastructure works project in the UK.
The taxation rates for online gambling in the UK are fair and the profits made by the government from this activity aren’t as staggering as you might have thought. However, it’s still an industry on the rise so we may as yet see this taxation profits heading up into the billions very, very soon.