Betting (Amendment) Act 2015

Minister Noonan has ordered the commencement of the Betting (Ammendment) Act 2015, formerly the Betting (Amendment) Act 2013. This move is most welcome, as retail operators have been struggling to compete with online and mobile operators as they escaped the betting tax net for a very long time.

Taxing online operators has proven to be a difficult task for several Governments, but Minister Noonan was determined to make it happen during his term of office. As the wording of the legislation currently stands, it will certainly tax online operators who are known to the Government. However, several areas in the Act need to be addressed as operators who do not apply for an Irish licence can avoid the tax in several ways, with no apparent retrospective penalties for doing so. Certain customers transactions could also avoid triggering the Irish tax depending on the technical setup of their connection. Until these anomalies are addressed, Irish companies who employ thousands of people in Ireland will be at a competitive disadvantage to unlicensed operators.