Ireland: Betting Duty Rise Explored by Tax Strategy Group

The Tax Strategy Group has submitted a report that proposes increasing betting duty in Ireland.

The report proposes increasing duty from 2% to 2.25%. It also suggests increasing the quantum of tax relief from €50,000 to €65,000.

The group calculates that, assuming betting activity returns to pre-pandemic levels, the hike in duty would bring in an extra €11m a year while the increase in tax relief would reduce that by €1m.

Under the proposals, the betting duty of a firm with turnover of €25m would be the same as in 2019, it said, but a firm with turnover of €750m would pay more. Ireland only just hiked its betting duty rate last year, doubling it from 1% to 2%.

Sharon Byrne, chair of the Irish Bookmakers Association, said that bookmakers were still reeling from that increase and that medium-sized bookmakers would “have no hope of surviving” if faced with a further hike.

“Even for the larger operators, it just wipes out the profitability of the majority of their shops,” she said.