RCA Joins Calls to #AxeTheRacingTax

The Racecourse Association is joining the call for the sport to collectively lobby the Government to back British horseracing and axe the Treasury’s proposal to hike tax on horserace betting by bringing existing online betting duties into one single rate.

HM Treasury’s proposed betting tax harmonisation would be catastrophic for British horseracing

The call comes ahead of the launch of ‘Axe the Racing Tax’, a BHA-led public campaign against the proposal which will be rolled out over the summer.

A tax hike for bookmakers in the Autumn Budget would be the third leg of a triple whammy of financial threats caused by Government policies which jeopardise the future of the sport in Britain.

Economic analysis commissioned by the BHA shows that aligning the current 15% tax rate paid by bookmakers on racing with that of online games of chance – currently taxed at 21% – by harmonising all remote gambling duties, could hit racing’s finances to the tune of £66m in lost income via the Levy, media rights and sponsorship. This is because operators are likely to seek to mitigate significant tax rises through cutting bonuses, reducing advertising and marketing budgets and increasing prices.

Should the Treasury seek to raise the proposed single duty rate further to help balance the books, the impact on racing’s finances would be devastating, with a projected £97m loss at a tax rate of 25%, a £126m loss at 30% and a £160m loss at 40%.

This would put thousands of jobs at risk and severely impact towns and rural communities across the country. It would also hamper British racing’s world-leading work on equine welfare.

It is why the RCA is joining calls asking everyone involved in the sport to play their part in urging the Government to axe the racing tax by writing to their local MP to call on Ministers to urgently rethink proposals.

Separately, the sport will be formally responding to the Treasury’s consultation on the proposals which closes on 21 July. The RCA will be submitting  a response to this consultation and guiding members to do the same where possible. The Treasury will consider its options ahead of the Budget this Autumn.

The sport’s rallying cry follows the publication of a hard-hitting report by the All-Party Group for Racing and Bloodstock demanding that the Government act quickly to secure the future of a treasured national institution that is loved by millions of people across the country.

HM Treasury’s proposals on remote gambling duties can be accessed here.