Online gambling has really flourished in the UK over previous years. Indeed, the gambling industry as a whole was worth around £14 billion according to 2017 statistics and online casino gambling equated to around £4.7 billion of that amount. Legislators, however, believe that this profit has come to the detriment of gamblers and they also believe that the UK is in a gambling crisis. To that effect, 2019 will be the year when there are many legislative changes introduced in a bid to curb the growth of the industry and protect those deemed vulnerable. All these changes will lead, inevitably to price increases, even at the best UK casinos.
Maximum Stake Reduction
This is not related to online gambling, more fixed odds betting terminals that you will find inside the bookmakers but it will have an effect on online gambling. The Government plan to cut the maximum stake payable to a fixed-odds betting terminal from £100 to £2. This is going to have a huge impact on the profits that anyone involved in the gambling industry can make, including online casinos, indicating that price increases might be on the way.
Increase in Tax
The Treasury has realised that they stand to lose a substantial amount through backing the maximum stake reduction at fixed odds betting terminals and so to combat this they have agreed to raise the tax owed by online casino operators. The tax will increase from 15% to 21% and the increase will be in operation from 1st October 2019. This really is a double whammy for the online casino industry, those with bricks and mortar presence will lose revenue from the fixed odds betting terminals whilst also being hit with higher taxes. This all spells dark times ahead for the industry and might lead to gamblers having to pay more for the pastime that they enjoy.
