The European Commission approved legislation allowing British authorities to extend the application of 10 per cent tax requirements to international horse racing betting operators offering services in the local market.
All betting operators for horse racing will pay 10 per cent of their profits from British customers to British racing, which previously only applied to domestic operators.
The changes mean that the levy will now capture online betting, which is estimated to account for more than 50 per cent of all betting activity on the sport.
The British Horse racing Authority said that parliamentarians in both the House of Commons and House of Lords “overwhelmingly” backed the new legislation.
Minister for sport, tourism and heritage, Tracey Crouch, said that the legislation would “make a profound difference to the British racing industry and to the thousands of hard-working stable staff, jockeys and trainers and all those who make racing what it is today” while ensuring that British racing “can continue to be the home of the best quality racing in the world for years to come.”
Nick Rust, chief executive of the BHA, said: “Today is a very important day for British racing as the new levy will make a significant contribution to securing the long term health and growth of our sport. While there remains much more to do in this regard, the levy replacement in itself is a huge achievement, and one that could not have been achieved without the determination and leadership demonstrated by Tracey Crouch and her team of dedicated officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
“Everyone in British racing owes thanks to her, and to the many supporters of our sport across and outside Westminster. We will be issuing further thanks to a number of key individuals over coming days.”
It is expected that the UK Gambling Commission will set up a separate authority to control the payments and the operations of foreign bookmakers in the local authorised market by the end of 2017.
