Combined bingo plans make good tax sense, says National Bingo Association

The National Bingo Association has welcomed the decision to allow cross-border combined bingo games, as was announced in this month’s Budget Red Book.

Under previous legislation – including the 1981 Betting and Gaming Duties Act s.20A and the 1985 Gaming (Bingo) Act – the association was permitted to run linked games, providing they were based entirely within the UK.

For the purposes of law, ‘combined bingo’ was defined as consisting of games that could be played from multiple locations, and which were promoted by multiple different operators.

Since the permission was introduced, the Bingo Association has run such link games within the UK, but has argued that the legislation should be extended in order to allow for games to be run that players in other countries could join in with.

In particular, the law relating to combined bingo exists to ensure that operators are not ‘double taxed’ on their profits, for example by applying gambling duty to the individual promoters, and also to the earnings of the Bingo Association.

Under the proposals outlined in the 2013 Budget document, internationally linked games would become permitted, which the Bingo Association could operate and extend to promoters overseas, without facing double taxation.

Chief executive Miles Baron says the possibility to explore such opportunities is a welcome move, with a statement from the Bingo Association adding: “The amendment to the Betting and Gaming Duties Act proposed in the Budget 2013 will allow the National Bingo Game Association to run games of combined bingo both for bingo clubs within and outside the UK, while still complying with the other requirements of s.20A BGDA for tax purposes.”

The news follows on from the Bingo Association’s statement in January that the 20% Gross Profit Tax rate applied to UK bingo operators is leaving 150 bricks-and-mortar bingo halls’ futures in jeopardy.

In addition to this, the industry is facing a further £9 million tax bill each year, with the introduction of an annual rate of duty on gaming machines.

With the Bingo Association’s membership doubling in size over the past six months, the organisation is strengthening its lobbying stance on such issues.

However, moves like the extension of combined bingo to include overseas venues is a further indication that the industry is also sticking to its January promise to “innovate and move forward” in order to remain competitive and profitable, and to serve the interests of players despite the level of taxation on earnings.