Discussions about reforming the gambling industry are still ongoing in Great Britain. The ruling elites still do not have a unified approach to the principles of reform.
As The Guardian wrote, the government's long-awaited proposals to reform gambling laws are unlikely to be published before May this year. According to the publication, the new delay is caused by different positions in the ruling Conservative Party.
However, British business has an active position on this issue. In addition to waiting for the finalization of the discussion in power circles, it participates in the formation of state gambling policy, and also demands the publication of government proposals as soon as possible.
Recently, BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher made a landmark statement. He noted that the state does not need to increase the tax burden on the gambling business, because this will not help the recovery of this sector of the economy after Covid-19 and may lead to increased share of gambling going dark, which will adversely affect both the economy (primarily because it will leave the state budget without a share of taxes), as well as the safety of players.
"There are still issues to finalise, but the long-awaited package of welcome reforms should be published without delay," Dugher said. “We hope the new secretary of state will listen to the millions of punters who are concerned about blanket, intrusive, low-level ‘affordability’ checks driving people to the unsafe unregulated black market online. We also hope that as a sector supporting jobs and investment in the UK, recovering from the pandemic and facing tough economic headwinds, the new secretary of state will reject calls for any new taxes on the industry."
In addition to that, the BGC Chief Executive noted that it was important that any changes in the rules of access to the services of legal gambling organizers do not hinder the safety of people who like to gamble.
It's hard to disagree with the BGC Chief Executive, because we need clear rules of the game for many years to come for the market to work effectively, not constant manipulation of gambling taxes. In addition to that, it should be remembered that any administrative or tax pressure on the gambling sector leads to only one thing, namely the growth of the illegal segment.
Haven't conclusions been made in Ukraine since 2009? I would like to remind you that, the Ukrainian parliament has been delaying the final adoption of changes to the fiscal legislation on the regulation of gambling taxation, which are included in Draft Law No. 2713-д, for three years in a row. Its entry into force as a Law will open the way for investments in Ukraine by the world's leading gambling organizers.
The normal operation of the provisions of this Law will also require the launch of the State Online Monitoring System, which will make it possible to guarantee the transparency of all money transactions in real time and thus prevent even traces of any "schemes" in the gambling business. So the parliament should hurry.
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