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| Just across the Irish sea from
the gambling heaven that is the UK there is a nation people who love to gamble
with even more passion and vigour. Its called Ireland and until recently there
was not a single bona fide land based or online casino to be found. For a
country devoid of sufficient tax revenue this was immature and impecunious. And
the country is Ireland. |
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."Wait a minute" I hear many
travellers to the Green Isle say. There are casinos all over the place in
Dublin, Cork and elsewhere. This is true, there were about 50 "private"
gambling houses all over the country doing pretty much what they wanted. Added
to this the people could happily gamble online without a shred of regulation
protecting them or the operators being licensed or paying tax to the Irish
governmet.
This has now changed. Last year in March Irish President
signed into law the Betting (Amendment) Act, 2015 and this came into practise
in by August 1, 2015. Now all the betting exchanges, bookmaking sites and
the top online bingo sites in Ireland
have to pay tax on gross revenue. Online casino, gaming and bingo services in
Ireland will face a 1% tax on gross gaming revenue whilst online sports betting
operations will be charged at a 15% net revenue rate, the same rate set by the
UK Gambling Commission for activities in the UK market.
All online
gambling operators wishing to offer services in the country are now required to
gain an approved licence, each of which will last for two years. Those
operators that to not acquire a licence and still offer services in Ireland
could face a fine of up to €300,000 ($320,000). The new online betting tax
could help raise an additional €25 million ($27.5 million) each year for
the country.
Further to this amendment are new powers to allow licensed
casino premises in Ireland although it has ruled out the possibility of
introducing ‘Las Vegas-style’ super-casinos such as that backed by
Independent TD Michael Lowry, which had been proposed for Tipperary.
The number of casinos has been restricted to 40, will only allow them
to have a maximum of 15 tables, and will require each establishment to hold a
licence. The casinos are only allowed in certain locations — they are not
allowed to be near schools or health care facilities, for example. The sale of
alcohol is allowed, but only during bar hours.
Operators will have to
pay a levy, which will go into a Social Gambling Fund, which will be used to
assist treatment services for those with gambling addictions, as well as
educational and information services. This is already a well established
Gamble Aware operation in
Ireland.
The bill has also introduced age restrictions for players, a
requirement for staff to be given specific training, and for key personnel in
each casino to have a personal licence.
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