THE first tax receipts from offshore betting will start to flow from July 1st, according to a Department of Finance timeline issued this week.

Legislation to tax online and telephone betting, routed through offshore vehicles, has been painfully slow in coming to reality. The banking crisis and related financial problems of the past five years saw the issue postponed repeatedly, and then the proposed legislation encountered further delays before being approved by the EU.

However, the Betting (Amendment) Bill now appears to have cleared all obstacles and the Department of Finance this week informed the betting industry of its intention to start collecting the tax from mid-summer. October 15th has been set as the provisional date for the first set of returns from licensed offshore bookmakers to the Revenue Commissioners.

At the moment betting tax of 1% on turnover is only applied to wagers placed in betting shops and this tax is absorbed by the bookmakers. The new Bill will extend this 1% tax to bets placed by Irish customers on the telephone and online. Betting exchanges will be forced to hand over 15% of the profits they make from Irish customers.

Betting companies who fail to comply with these laws will be banned from targeting Irish punters. All the major bookmakers are expected to sign-up for the Irish licences but they will insist that the Government clamps down on non-compliant operators. It is thought that the Government will instruct credit card companies and banks not to allow their clients to make payments to unapproved betting companies.

This week’s news was welcomed by the Irish Bookmakers Association, the organisation which represents the majority of Ireland’s betting shops. IBA spokesperson Sharon Byrne said: “This will put betting shops on a level playing field with the online and telephone market.”

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE PROVISIONAL TIMELINE FOR BETTING BILL

Feb 11: Back in the Seanad for Committee stage

Feb 18: (week commencing) Report stage

Feb 23: (week commencing) Seanad amendments reported to the Dáil

Mar 2-10: Bill enacted

Mar-July: Revenue Commissioners issue instructions on licence application procedure

Jul 1: Online taxation at 1% of sportsbook turnover from Irish-based customers begins

Oct 15: Return and payment of first return for Irish online betting tax