Finance Act 2011

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Amendment of Chapter 1 (betting duty) of Part 2 of Finance Act 2002, etc.

49.— (1) Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Finance Act 2002 is amended—

(a) in section 64 by deleting the definition of “duty” and inserting the following:

“ ‘bookmaker’ has the same meaning as it has in the Betting Act 1931 ;”,

(b) in section 64, in the definition of “registered premises”, by substituting “1931;” for “1931, and”,

(c) in section 64 by inserting the following definitions after the definition of “registered premises”:

“ ‘remote betting intermediary’ means a person who, in the course of business provides facilities, in accordance with a licence for such activity duly granted under any Act, which allow persons to make bets with other persons by remote means;

‘remote bookmaker’ means a person who engages in bookmaking by remote means in accordance with a licence for such bookmaking duly granted under any Act but does not include a bookmaker licensed under section 7 of the Betting Act 1931 who accepts bets by remote means as an ancillary part of his or her bookmaking business;

‘remote means’ means by way of—

(a) the internet or telephone, or

(b) any other electronic or other technology for facilitating communication by telegraphy or wireless telegraphy;”,

(d) by inserting the following after section 66:

“Remote bookmaker’s licence duty.

66A.— (1) There shall be charged, levied and paid—

(a) for and upon every licence to act and carry on business as a remote bookmaker, an excise duty of €5,000, and

(b) on the renewal of every such licence, the appropriate rate of excise duty mentioned in column (2) of the Table to this section in respect of the level of the annual turnover of the remote bookmaker which is mentioned opposite that rate in column (1) of that Table.

(2) Where it is established that—

(a) the amount of excise duty paid on the renewal of a remote bookmaker’s licence is in excess of the amount properly payable, that excess amount shall be refunded by the Revenue Commissioners;

(b) the amount of the excise duty paid on the renewal of such a licence is less than the amount properly payable, the amount of the shortfall shall be paid before the licence is renewable and the licence shall not be renewable unless so paid.

(3) Every person who fails or neglects to pay the proper sum payable in respect of the duty imposed by this section shall be liable to a penalty of €5,000.

(4) In this section ‘annual turnover’ means—

(a) where the period between the date of the granting of the licence and the date on which it falls due for renewal is less than a year, an amount determined by the formula—

T × 365

—

P

where—

T is the amount in money of the bets entered into by the remote bookmaker with persons in the State in the period between the date of the granting of the licence and 31 October preceding the date on which it falls due for renewal, and

P is the number of days in the period between the date of the granting of the licence and 31 October preceding the date on which it falls due for renewal,

(b) in any other case, the amount in money of the bets entered into by the remote bookmaker with persons in the State in the period of one year ending on 30 September preceding the date on which the licence falls due for renewal.

TABLE

Remote betting intermediary’s licence duty.

66B.— (1) There shall be charged, levied and paid—

(a) for and upon every licence to act and carry on business as a remote betting intermediary, an excise duty of €5,000, and

(b) on the renewal of every such licence, the appropriate rate of excise duty mentioned in column (2) of the Table to this section in respect of the level of the annual commission earnings of the remote betting intermediary which is mentioned opposite that rate in column (1) of that Table.

(2) Where it is established that—

(a) the amount of excise duty paid on the renewal of a remote betting intermediary’s licence is in excess of the amount properly payable, that excess amount shall be refunded by the Revenue Commissioners;

(b) the amount of the excise duty paid on the renewal of such a licence is less than the amount properly payable, the amount of the shortfall shall be paid before the licence is renewable and the licence shall not be renewable unless so paid.

(3) Every person who fails or neglects to pay the proper sum payable in respect of the duty imposed by this section shall be liable to a penalty of €5,000.

(4) In this section ‘annual commission earnings’ means—

(a) where the period between the date of the granting of the licence and the date on which it falls due for renewal is less than a year, an amount determined by the formula—

T × 365

—

P

where—

T is the earnings by way of commission charges (within the meaning of section 67B) of the remote betting intermediary in the period between the date of the granting of the licence and 31 October preceding the date on which it falls due for renewal, and

P is the number of days in the period between the date of the granting of the licence and 31 October preceding the date on which it falls due for renewal,

(b) in any other case, the amount of earnings by way of commission charges of the remote betting intermediary in the period of one year ending on 30 September preceding the date on which the licence falls due for renewal.

TABLE

”,

(e) by inserting the following after section 67:

“Application of betting duty to remote bookmakers.

67A.— Betting duty under section 67 shall be charged, levied and paid on and by every remote bookmaker in respect of bets made, laid or otherwise entered into with persons in the State and the provisions of section 67 shall apply in relation to bets made, laid or otherwise entered into by remote bookmakers with such persons.

Betting intermediary duty.

67B.— (1) There shall be charged, levied and paid on and by every remote betting intermediary an excise duty, to be known as betting intermediary duty, at the rate of 15 per cent of commission charges.

(2) For the purposes of this section, ‘commission charges’ means the amounts that parties in the State to bets made using the facilities of a remote betting intermediary are charged, whether by deduction from winnings or otherwise, for using those facilities.

(3) Every person who fails or neglects to pay any sum payable by him or her in respect of betting intermediary duty imposed by this section within the prescribed period shall be liable to a penalty of €5,000.”,

(f) in section 69 by inserting “or the remote bookmaker” after “bookmaker”,

(g) by inserting the following after section 69:

“Time when betting intermediary duty becomes payable.

69A.— Betting intermediary duty shall become due when commission is charged by a remote betting intermediary in respect of a bet made using the facilities of the intermediary.”,

(h) in section 70 by inserting “or betting intermediary duty” after “betting duty” in both places where those words occur,

(i) in section 71(1) by inserting “or section 67A” after “section 67”,

(j) in section 71 by deleting subsection (2),

(k) in section 72(2)(d) by substituting “section 960L” for “section 962”,

(l) in section 75 by deleting subsection (1),

(m) by inserting the following after section 75:

“Application of sections 72 to 75.

75A.— Sections 72 to 75 shall apply in relation to betting intermediary duty under section 67B.”,

(n) in section 76 by substituting “any duty imposed by this Chapter,” for “the duty on bets imposed by section 67 of this Chapter,”,

(o) in section 77(1) by substituting “any duty imposed by this Chapter” for “betting duty”,

(p) in section 77(1)(a) by inserting “, remote bookmakers and remote betting intermediaries” after “bookmakers”,

(q) in section 77(1)(b) by substituting “duty” for “betting duty”, and

(r) by substituting the following for section 77(1)(c):

“(c) requiring the maintenance and production by bookmakers, remote bookmakers and remote betting intermediaries of their books, accounts, vouchers, and other records relating to the business carried on by them, and”.

(2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 17 of the Finance Act 2009 are repealed.

(3) Subsection (1) comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order, and different days may be so appointed for different provisions or for different purposes.