Commons again warned UK gaming tax hike could hit Gibraltar hard

The House of Commons was reminded on Wednesday that the decisions it took could have “a huge impact” on Gibraltar, as a Labour MP warned that a planned increase to UK gaming taxes could “leave a huge hole” in the Rock’s economy.

Gareth Snell used a Commons debate on the Finance Bill to warn that changes to the UK’s remote gaming and remote betting duty could have a significant impact on Gibraltar’s public finances, and that higher costs in the regulated sector risked driving more gamblers into the black market.

Mr Snell tabled an amendment to the Bill requiring the UK Government to conduct an impact assessment on Gibraltar, whose economy he said was heavily reliant on the gaming and gambling sector.

Citing his discussions with Nigel Feetham, Gibraltar’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Justice, Mr Snell said the gaming accounts for 30% of Gibraltar’s GDP, employs 3500 people and generates one third of Gibraltar’s tax receipts.

He said companies with a footprint in Gibraltar pay Gibraltar corporation tax as well as levies in the UK and argued that changes to the UK duty structure could have an immediate effect on Gibraltar’s revenues because of the way the tax is applied.

“The minister will be acutely aware that the gaming and gambling sector in Gibraltar is a huge part of their economy,” he said, addressing Labour MP Dan Tomlinson, the Exchequer Secretary at the Treasury.

“So…anything that we do in this place that has an impact on the sector in Gibraltar will leave a huge hole in the Gibraltar economy which will have to be filled.”

Mr Snell also linked the issue to Gibraltar’s wider importance to the UK, saying tax decisions taken in Westminster could affect its ability to fund public services.

He said Gibraltar needed stability and called on the minister to set out what contact the Treasury had had with Gibraltar on the issue.

“Gibraltar is of strategic importance to us,” he said.

“It is part of the family of nations that make up who we are.”

“And decisions that we take in this Finance Bill are having a huge impact on their economy and on their ability to fund their public services and fund their defence.”

Alongside his comments on Gibraltar, Mr Snell devoted substantial attention to what he said were the risks of pushing consumers towards unregulated operators.

He tabled a separate amendment calling for an independent assessment of the impact of the duty changes on the black market, arguing that any effective response to gambling harm depended on keeping consumers inside the regulated sector.

He said the black market offered none of the protections available through licensed operators and warned that those using unregulated sites would be more exposed to harm.

“The more people we push into the black market, where there is no support, there is no gam care, there is no lockout system,” Mr Snell said.

“It means people are more at risk of harmful activity and being preyed upon by predatory organisations.”

“And companies that are outside of the UK do not pay taxes here and are simply not worried about the participants.”

He cited an independent study by Ernst and Young for the Betting and Gaming Council, which he said estimated that £6 billion worth of stakes could be diverted to the black market as a result of the changes.

He told the Commons this would amount to a 140% increase in stakes moving into unregulated channels.

“Now, the independent study done by Ernst and Young for the Betting and Gaming Council did come up that there is a potential for £6 billion worth of stakes to be diverted to black market as a result of this change,” Mr Snell said.

“That’s six billion pounds of stakes that were going to be made somewhere but will go into the black market.”

He said those transactions would fall outside UK taxation and regulation, adding people using such sites would have no meaningful welfare protections.

Mr Snell also said illicit operators were easily accessible and that money staked through those sites could be linked to criminal activity overseas.

“Every single one of us is no more than two clicks away from an unregulated gaming or gambling site, where, again, that money often goes into questionable activities overseas,” he said.

“Some of it is funding organised crime.”

“In some cases, it’s also funding terrorism activities overseas and we should be open acknowledge that fact.”

Mr Snell said the Treasury had earmarked £26 million for the UK Gambling Commission as part of broader regulatory changes, but argued that the UK Government had not yet assessed whether that would be sufficient to address the scale of any shift to the black market.

He also said the Treasury had not given him an answer on when a post-implementation review might take place.

“To be honest, we just simply don’t know how big the impact is going to be,” he said.

“The assessment simply hasn’t been done by government to determine whether that £26 million is enough.”

In the debate, Mr Snell said his concern was not to revisit the principle of the tax changes themselves, but to secure an assessment of their unintended consequences for both Gibraltar and the black market.

Alex Ballinger, another Labour MP, took a different stance on the issues raised by Mr Snell, saying any impact on Gibraltar should be weighed against how operators fared in other jurisdictions with higher taxes than the UK.

“I think if the tax changes are going to be as economically damaging as claimed for Gibraltar, we do need to consider how it works in other jurisdictions, because there are often the same gambling organisations operating in other countries with much higher tax rates than the UK and they manage to survive profitably in those sectors,” he said.

“So I think we should take that into consideration when we're looking at the impact on Gibraltar as well.”

As for concerns about pushing people to black market sites, he said the threat was “overblown” and other sectors such as the tobacco industry had employed a similar narrative in the past that later proved unfounded.

“And again, when we introduced the [gaming sector] point of consumption tax in 2014, again, there was no surge in unregulated or the black market gambling at that point either,” he added.

A study by the UK Gambling Commission in 2021 found only “a very small proportion” of UK gamblers ever used unlicensed sites, “and these were mostly by accident”.

Mr Ballinger welcomed investment to tackle harmful gambling.

“But I think we should not buy into the narrative that risks from the black market should stop us making changes that keep people safe from the most harmful forms of gambling,” he said.

Responding, Mr Tomlinson said he had met twice with Mr Feetham to discuss the impact of the changes on Gibraltar’s economy.

“I do understand there are significant impacts on the economy in Gibraltar and that is something that I hope to keep engaging on and discussing,” he said.

Mr Tomlinson was pressed by Mr Snell who asked whether he would give an assurance that there would be “no future surprises and no significant tax changes” that could impact Gibraltar negatively.

Mr Tomlinson declined “to write future budgets”, adding: “We have made a significant change when it comes to gambling taxation and rather than make further changes the Government will of course monitor to see the impact of that change.”

The debate was being closely followed by Mr Feetham, who told the Chronicle he would carefully consider all the views expressed.

“Gibraltar received a very strong show of support in Parliament from Gareth Snell MP, who highlighted the vulnerability of our economy to decisions taken in the UK, particularly affecting our gaming sector,” said.

“I am very grateful to Gareth for his continued support in Parliament.”

“We will carefully assess the different positions expressed and reflect on the points raised.”