Go away and fix your own problems horse racing.
As we all know horse racing is going down the swanee pretty fast. For anyone who missed the report on the news last night stating that "all online betting" will be taxed in Ireland to fund horse racing, you can watch it here, under Sunday 25 July, its from RTE six one news so its not shite talk either, its four videos down on that page.
Betfair was specifically mentioned. But no dates or anything like that.
It used loose words and didnt define the actual law/rules but given that they quoted that "all internet betting is to be taxed," I'm presuming it means absolutely everything (cricket, GAA, football), which is a total disgrace to be honest if thats the case, but it didnt define anything like that 100% so we dont know for sure yet. For everyone who bets in Ireland - its not our fault horse racing has become boring with low grade racing and people are less and less interested in it.
Equally it is not our fault if William Hill etc move off shore and pass on the tax bill, theres nothing against the rules there really lets be honest, they simply moved around a loophole that if the Government had any sense wouldnt be there in the first place.
Horse racing has put itself in a hole with more meetings which means more prize money (or less each race but more overall) and cant pick up the bill itself, and equally now cant compete with other sports in terms of excitement, but we all have to foot the bill instead. Sigh..
Anyway feck Ireland, we have to decide what country were moving to? (Bollocks to paying betting tax), I vote somewhere warm with fast internet.. Spain or Portugal? Or even I'll head to England. Lets be serious if it comes in on every sport it will have a massive impact on the P&L to the point where it'll be difficult to keep up. 5% from Betfair and 5% from tax, means every even money shot becomes a 1.9 shot, that'll catch up with everyone eventually..
I'm thinking it'll be too hard to tax "winnings" because its too hard to keep track of, so they'll tax every bet, what happens then trading? Youre goosed.
To be a professional gambler and stay here to pay tax on every bet that you could avoid in another country, would be insane IMO.
In summary - Ireland is finnish.
Betfair Chase Day 2024 (Haydock)
3 hours ago
You can always come to sunny Australia seeing as half your blogs are about being up late it would fit in fine and we get all the irish games live here
ReplyDeleteYoure not allowed bet in running down under are you? Crackin' weather though.
ReplyDeletecorrect, pretty pointless to move to Aus until they change the stupid online in-running law.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a daft cashgrab by politicians stuck in a bygone era. Ignoring the concepts of competition, efficient business models and companies moving offshore to avoid paying tax and levy just shows how ignorant they are of today's world. Do they think Irish people are that stupid? Would any UK bookie cry if they didn't bet on Irish racing? Annual profits on it would equate to about two days of FOTB profits for the big firms...
The part that gets me is that those in charge of horse racing dont seem to understand that it is only a small part of a big gambling industry, its as if they think theyre number 1 and control the whole system, when theyre not, no where near.
ReplyDeleteWhy should I have to pay tax on a GAA bet to keep horse racing afloat, it makes NO sense at all!
I can understand if they wanted to tax just Irish horse racing (then turnover would simply go down even further), fair enough, but all forms of gambling is madness, gutted if it goes through, which in all likelihood it will.
They showed pages of the report there and I caught "Betfair is banned in some countries" or something along those lines, that could even have an outside chance of happening.
It makes me want to throw up listening to Brian Kavanagh going on about how turnover has increased. He clearly chooses to forget that it has increased due to other sports taking off. HRI don't care about the punter they just want all the money they can get. Low margin betting is now finished if they get their way, sick.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Scott makes a good point there though - do they really think were that stupid to pay it? Why pay it when youre not subject to it in a different country?
ReplyDeletePatrik Antonius is the famous poker player that moved, he was subject to a tax on every hand of poker he played not just winnings - moved country and he doesnt pay any though.
If they do bring it in, which must be odds on, moving is the only option sadly, I dont want to move either :(
Also, I'd rather give up gambling than be taxed on a cricket/GAA bet to fund a sport I'm not even betting on FFS!
ReplyDeleteWhaatt?? You're moving to Finland?
ReplyDelete