FINE Gael chairman and Kildare South TD Martin Heydon has added his voice to calls for betting tax to be increased in the Budget on Tuesday week, October 9th.

His plea to the Minister Finance Paschal Dohohoe comes a week after the Independent Alliance group of Dáil deputies petitioned the Government to double betting tax from 1% to 2%.

Heydon, a keen supporter of the racing and breeding sectors, made his point to the Minister at a meeting of the Budgetary Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

“I took the opportunity ... to reiterate to Minister Donohoe the strong case for an increase in the 1% betting duty in this Budget,” Heydon said. “While betting tax had been as high as 20% in 1984 and fallen steadily over 20 years, it was the drop from 2% to 1% in 2006 in particular that I felt was never justified.

“Betting activity has changed hugely in the intervening 12 years with turnover on betting activity increasing exponentially through many avenues, especially online. Consider that in 2001 turnover was €1 billion and we took in €68 million in betting tax, the turnover has now grown fivefold and we are taking in less money.

“The legislation to introduce betting tax on remote betting in 2015 has now bedded in with receipts from online activity alone surpassing €20 million in 2016 and 2017, contributing to an overall tax take of €52.2 million in 2017.”

However, Heydon stopped short of saying that any extra tax take should be given to the racing industry. Instead, he hinted that more should be spent by the Government on tackling problem gambling,

“With the increasing prevalence of problem gambling among young men in particular, I believe there is a very strong case to be made now for an increase in the 1% levy on traditional betting, a view which the Minister took on board.”

The Independent Alliance also wants to see part of the gambling tax receipts used to fund addiction services for gamblers.

Last month the Department of Finance said it was considering raising the tax rate. It is believed that a betting tax rate increase would boost the tax receipts by 50% to more than €100 million in 2019.

The Alliance for Racing and Breeding, a group representing owners, trainers and breeders, has long campaigned for a betting tax increase and that racing deserves a proportion of the extra revenue generated.

However, the Minister did not move on the issue in his 2018 Budget and documents released earlier this year revealed that Department of Finance officials had advised the Minister that doubling the tax rate would be “potentially damaging for the retail sector, leading to the closure of businesses and job losses.”

At the time the Minister replied: “As you know, I decided not to change this rate in Budget ‘18. Will consider for next year.”