Ireland Implementing New Online Gambling Tax

Posted By: Date: 10/23/2014 at 12:00 am Leave a comment

This past week, Ireland’s Minister of Finance, Michael Noonan, announced that Ireland will be adopting a new online gambling tax designed to raise more money for the country. The tax is estimated to raise €25 million annually, which translates to $31.6 million USD.

This bill is actually something that has been in the works for some time. It was first sent to the European Commission over the summer, but talks have since stalled. It’s expected that during the latter half of 2014, the bill will be passed.

It’s important that US legislators take note of this bill. We’re in a time where every single dollar matters, and if there are ways to raise more money than usual, they should be considered. For example, Colorado went a little outside of the box – they legalized Marijuana sales earlier this year. In the past 10 months, they’ve raised $45 million, and sales continue to climb. That extra revenue will help the local economy dramatically.

If something similar were to be implemented here, there’s no way to estimate how much extra revenue it’d bring. Online gambling is only legal in three states, and if those states had sites that ran no deposit promotions, the amount of extra revenue they’d generate is astronomical.

Unfortunately, no one can decide on anything, so online gaming in the United States continues to get caught up in political red tape.

At the forefront of the opposition to the legalization of online gambling is Sheldon Adelson, ready to throw down any amount of money to make sure that the issue dies. Fortunately, that issue hasn’t worked out for him.

The bill that Ireland is set to pass will introduce a 15 percent tax on the Gross Gaming Revenues of bookmakers and betting exchanges. In doing this, foreign operators will have to obtain a special, brand new license to continue operating in Ireland. It doesn’t matter where the site originates from, if they want to continue to be accessible in Ireland, they have to get the license.

While the rest of the world continues to get extra revenue thanks to online gambling, the United States remains far behind the trend. This week, New York restated their interest to get an online gambling program up and going, and New Jersey legalized online sports betting. Progress on online gambling legalization is slow, but the important thing is that it’s moving forward.

Once Ireland introduces this bill, it’ll be interesting to see what response the United States has. Though online gambling is only legalized in three states, it’s possible that they could adopt the same tax system. If they do, they’ll surely see profits increase. Until then, individual states will continue to fight for the right to have legalized online gambling.

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