It seems things are going to take yet another turn for the worse, with many UK analysts predicting that the UK will follow the lead set by other European countries, such as Italy and France, and introduce regulation and tax for gambling operators who accept UK players. The recent events of Black Friday, which in effect resulted in the closure of Full Tilt and Absolute, has in effect placed the spotlight on the online gambling world in the UK.
“This highlights why the government is looking at reforming how overseas-based operators are regulated and we hope to make an announcement in the next few weeks,” a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport said.
Many of the leading UK gambling operators have set up companies offshore so they can in effect vastly reduce their tax liabilities. The cash strapped UK government has been keeping an eye on the likes of Italy in regards to the reform of online gambling in the UK. Many predict that Italy will raise 1 billion Euros in the next year from online gambling taxation whilst the UK will only raise a small fraction of that amount due to liberal online gambling laws. The UK looks set to follow Italy, with operators who accept UK players set to be hit with hefty taxation.
The bad news for affiliates is that in other countries that have licensed and taxed online gambling operators, affiliates have had their rev share deals slashed as operators have had to pay a larger proportion of their turnover in tax. It looks likes the days of 40% commission from UK facing online gambling operators will be vanished to the vaults of history.
