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March 18 - It was a nail-biting week for the UK bingo industry in the
days preceding Alistair Darling's national budget announcement on Thursday. The
industry sincerely believed that Darling would heed their calls for the removal
of a crippling double-taxation policy that is only imposed on the bingo industry
in the UK - not even shared by sectors such as casinos and betting shops.
Under new UK gambling legislation, the local bingo industry needs to pay
gross profit tax of 15%, as well as Value Added Tax of 17.5 %. As a result, many
traditional bingo halls that form an integral part of the cultural landscape in
the country have been forced to close down. A subsequent smoking ban on public
places of entertainment has not helped the matter in the least. It is predicted
that hundreds of bingo halls will be forced to close in the near future if the
'double whammy' taxation costs and smoking bans continue.
After petitioning the UK authorities, bingo industry leaders were confident
that the new budget announced by Darling on Thursday would take their legitimate
concerns into consideration. They were hoping that at least one tax charge would
be dropped altogether, although they would have also been content with a
percentage reduction.
Therefore, the industry reacted in disbelief when Darling announced an
increase in Amusement Machine License Duty (AMLD) which will undoubtedly
impact the UK bingo industry negatively.
In a statement after the budget announcement, the chief executive of
Britain's Bingo Association said: "This is a slap in the face for bingo players
across the country. There is no reason why they should continue to be penalized
by double taxation when other gambling products only pay a single tax. The
industry is struggling to deal with the combined impact of double taxation, the
removal of gaming machines and the impact of the smoking ban."
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