Policy paper

Gaming Duty: increase in casino gross gaming yield bands

Published 8 March 2017

Who is likely to be affected

UK casino operators.

General description of the measure

This measure increases gaming duty bands for casinos in line with inflation.

Policy objective

The change made by this measure increases the gross gaming yield (GGY) but makes no changes to the rates. This will ensure that casino operators’ profits are not subject to the higher gaming duty bands simply as a result of inflation. There is therefore no duty increase in real terms.

The gaming duty bandings have been adjusted each year since 1998.

Background to the measure

Gaming duty is paid by casinos on their GGY which can broadly be defined as the amounts staked by customers minus winnings paid to them. The duty is calculated by reference to bands of GGY. As the GGY increases, so the rate applied to calculate the duty increases.

The rates range from 15% which is applied to the first £2,423,500 of GGY up to 50%. The 50% rate applies to any GGY above £13,195,000. If the bandings were not increased in line with inflation then over time more GGY would be subject to higher rates.

Detailed proposal

Operative date

The increase to gaming duty bands will have effect for gaming duty accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2017.

Current law

Current law is contained in the table at section 11 (2) of Finance Act (FA) 1997. The GGY bandings have been increased on an annual basis since 1998. The bandings were last amended by section 152 of FA 2016.

Proposed revisions

Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2017 to increase the GGY values in section 11 (2) of FA 1997. These bandings cover a 6 month accounting period and businesses liable to gaming duty are required to submit 2 returns:

• an interim return after 3 months
• a full return at the end of the 6 month accounting period

Each time the bands for the 6 monthly accounting periods are increased the bands applicable to the 3 months period contained in the Gaming Duty Regulations 1997 (S.I. 1997/2196) are also increased to ensure consistency. The Gaming Duty Regulations will be made after Royal Assent to Finance Bill 2017.

Summary of impacts

Exchequer impact (£m)

2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022
nil	nil	nil	nil	nil

This measure is not expected to have an Exchequer impact.

Economic impact

This measure is not expected to have any significant economic impacts.

Impact on individuals, households and families

The impact on individuals and households is expected to be negligible as these measures are not expected to have a significant impact on the availability, price and payouts in casino gaming.

The measure is not expected to impact on family formation, stability or breakdown.

Equalities impacts

This measure is not expected to have different impacts on any protected equality groups.

Impact on business including civil society organisations

The measure is expected to have a negligible impact on businesses. Those businesses affected by the change will incur a negligible one-off cost to update their systems to reflect the new GGY values. There are not expected to be any additional on-going costs.

This measure is not expected to have any impact on civil society organisations.

Operational impact (£m) (HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or other)

There will be no significant operational impact to HMRC.

Other impacts

Other impacts have been considered and none have been identified.

Monitoring and evaluation

This measure will be monitored through information collected from tax returns.

Further advice

If you have any questions about this change, please contact Maureen Jones on Telephone: 03000 588064 or email: maureen.jones2@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk.