Gambling Tax Uk Winnings
Those who gamble, especially those who are very new to it or, conversely, those that do it an awful lot, often wonder if there are any tax implications involved with gambling. The short, simple and wonderfully sweet answer is that no, there is no tax at all to pay on either gambling winnings or stakes in the UK (if you are not based in the UK please check your local jurisdiction).
This was not always the case, you might be unsurprised to hear, as the government is never one to miss a chance to squeeze an extra few quid out of us when they can. Betting shops were legalised as part of the liberal mood that swept the country during the 1960s but a tax was levied, either on the stake or winnings (as decided by the punter prior to bet placement). This was charged at 9% but was abolished by Gordon Brown in the March budget of 2001, with the changes coming into effect on January 1st 2002.
Taxing Offshore Betting Sites
Here we will look at that aspect of tax on gambling winnings. History Of Gambling Tax In The UK. It wasn’t always so rosy for UK punters though. From 1960 through 2001, when Gordon Brown abolished gambling tax in that year’s budget, bettors could choose to pay 9% tax on either the stake (keeping it minimal) or their winnings (potentially. Gambling and Taxation. Essentially betting is ‘tax-free’ in the UK – the professional gambler is outside the scope of tax. This is confirmed in HMRC’s Business Income Manual at BIM22015. The basic position is that betting and gambling, as such, do not constitute trading. This is not a new precedent either.
It includes winnings from betting, gambling, card games or any other games. Hence, winnings from online gaming also fall under this category. Winnings from online gaming are taxed at a flat rate. Spread betting, index betting and binary options are not regulated by the UK Gambling Commission but instead fall under the umbrella of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Despite this you do not need to pay the 18% UK Capital Gains Tax or stamp duty on winnings from Spread Betting.
The then Chancellor was concerned that the country was losing revenue – not to mention jobs – to offshore gambling sites which people could access via their phones or the internet. Many of the big UK brands had moved offshore where they could take bets without the punters being taxed and Brown’s move was designed to stop that. The tax on the gambler was replaced with a 15% levy on the gross profits of bookmakers and since that momentous day over 10 years ago there has been no tax at all for punters to pay no matter how much they win from gambling.
This has had many ramifications and one is the growth of financial betting as an alternative to conventional investment mechanisms, the former offering tax free winnings, the latter subject to standard tax laws. It has also made UK-based bookies and betting shops far more competitive and has been instrumental in the growth and success of the UK gambling industry.
Follow up legislation further strengthened the domestic market by levying the same 15% tax that UK-based companies face against those based offshore. Remote gambling operators with UK customers currently benefitting from their bases in offshore havens such as Gibraltar and the Isle of Man now have to pay 15% tax on their operating profits. It was estimated to raise around £300m annually for the government and came into force in December 2014.
FOBT’s Stakes Down, Online Taxes Increase to 21%
In 2019, and after a long drawn out battle in both the media and houses of commons, the maximum stake permitted on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals found in high street bookmakers was reduced to £2 – a huge cut when you consider the fact that the previous limit had been £100.
Whilst the cut in stake was primarily intended to help protect vunerable and problem gamblers it also had the knock on effect of reducing the tax revenue generated by the machines. To compensate for this the UK Government chose to increase the 15% tax rate to a whopping 21%.
Despite the increase, crucially, this has no real impact on us as punters. To go back to the very simple answer as the beginning of this piece – gambling profits and stakes in the UK are still totally tax free.
Gambling Tax Uk Winnings 2019
Gambling Tax Uk Winnings Money
Can gambling be taxed as earnings? Julie Butler considers a recent case on gambling which covers issues frequently raised in the TaxationWeb forum.
Gambling and Taxation
Essentially betting is ‘tax-free’ in the UK – the professional gambler is outside the scope of tax. This is confirmed in HMRC’s Business Income Manual at BIM22015. The basic position is that betting and gambling, as such, do not constitute trading. This is not a new precedent either. Rowlatt J said in Graham v Green (1925) 9 TC 309: “A bet is merely an irrational agreement that one person should pay another person on the happening of an event.”
This decision has stood the test of time. In an Australian case, Evans v FCT (1989) 20 ATC 4540, Hill J said: “There has been no decision of a court in Australia nor, so far as I am aware, in the United Kingdom where it has been held that a mere punter was carrying on a business.”
A recent case has tested this principle. In Hakki v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2014] EWCA Civ 530 Mr Hakki was a professional poker player who made a living from his poker winnings. An order for Mr Hakki to pay child maintenance was applied for through the Child Support Agency by the mother of his children (Mrs Blair).
In accordance with the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (SSCBA 1992) s2(1)(b) and the Child Support (Maintenance Assessment and Special Cases) Regulations 1992 Mr Hakki opposed the application on the grounds that his poker winnings did not constitute ‘earnings’ from gainful employment and therefore he was not a self-employed earner, i.e., the profits arose from gambling.
It is very interesting to note that the Upper Tribunal found that for the purposes of SSCBA 1992, gambling could be a trade, profession or vocation, and that Mr Hakki could be said to be ‘gainfully employed’ as a ‘self-employed earner’ and therefore should pay child maintenance to Mrs Blair.
Mr Hakki appealed to the Court of Appeal. Mrs Blair’s barrister argued that Hakki’s poker playing amounted to a trade similar to that of a professional golfer or tennis player. The barrister relied on the findings that Mr Hakki:
- Set a target sum to win after which he stopped;
- Selected the table which was most likely to pay him;
- Appeared on a television programme about poker for a few weeks, made it to the final and won a prize;
- Was the owner of his own website and communicated his strategies for online poker;
- Had his poker results over seven or eight years published on two other poker websites; and
- Chose the locations for playing poker.
The Court of Appeal found that even collectively these findings do not amount to such organisation as to constitute a trade, profession or vocation. The Court of Appeal found that gambling is not a trade and the factors surrounding Mr Hakki must be common to many successful gamblers, e.g., choice of location, setting target sums and the table most likely to pay. It was found that isolated appearances on television and Mr Hakki having his own website was not in 2014 evidence of organisation amounting to a trade or profession. It is also very interesting to note that the court was persuaded that it is possible to accept a case in which a gambler’s winnings might be taxable, but it found that in this case there was no organised seeking of emoluments and therefore no gainful employment.
This case adds to the ongoing discussion about whether a gambler in certain circumstances can be taxed on his or her winnings.
Will there be future legislation that brings gambling profits into the scope of taxation? There has apparently been nothing to indicate that this is under review despite the advent of very sophisticated techniques to make substantial profits from gambling. It has to be asked, what is “the case” that the courts can find as taxable? Is that perhaps the case with sophisticated software?
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Gambling Winnings Tax Rate Uk
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