The piece prompted a unanimous response from the quietest voices in Irish racing, that of the betting public, with every single respondent unsurprisingly stating that a tax on punters stakes or winnings would drive their betting activities abroad/underground and/or have a negative impact on the amounts that they bet.

The fundamental problem with any proposal for a tax on punters is that betting will remain tax-free in Britain and such a change would prompt a boom in black market bookies. Theoretically, a tax of 2.5% on stakes or winnings would personally cost me a four-figure sum annually, but if I were to redirect my betting activity through a British-based commission agent, I could bet tax-free. It isn’t rocket science.

Anyone who thinks Irish punters, particularly the bigger punters, who are treated so shoddily by the Irish racing authorities already, will happily pay such a tax is very naïve. This will be particularly true in the case of the betting customers who racing should value the most, the new generation of punter. Those in their 20s have never had to pay tax on bets and asking them to do so now when their equivalents in Britain won’t have to would be disastrous.

Whether you like or not, racing’s popularity will forever be linked to betting and in the very likely event that such a tax would lead to a significant decrease in overall betting turnover on racing in Ireland, the knock-on effects would be a decrease in the sport’s popularity. This would speed up the pace with which betting on racing is being shunned in preference to betting on other sports.

The less relevant racing becomes to bookmakers and the public, the less they will pay for media rights, and once that is devalued, how long before our dedicated racing TV stations and terrestrial TV coverage falls by the wayside? Racing is already on a slippery slope and a move like this would only speed up its decline. Racing should be aiming to increase interest in racing and overall betting turnover on it, not find a way to squeeze more tax out of those that are already interested. However, as stated last week, I can see the case for why increasing the tax yield should be a priority for Irish racing. The question is how to do it fairly and without risking alienating the existing betting fan base.

An alternative is the one suggested by TD Martin Heydon in The Irish Field last week which is a switch to a gross profits tax rather than a turnover tax. My fundamental objection to the switching to a gross profits tax has always been that such a switch would mean that it would be in the direct interests of racing for the betting public to lose as much as possible when betting. This is fundamentally a very unhealthy situation and British racing has been suffering since making that switch, with the bookmakers having a detrimental influence over the fixture list.

In addition to that, I also worry how much additional funding such a switch would generate given that the Irish Bookmakers Association themselves have come out in support of the proposal, which makes me even more sceptical about it.

When originally dealing with this subject back in April, my suggestion was an increase in tax to 1.5% which the bookmakers would continue to absorb. This may seem like a modest rise, but the projected numbers do add up.

While the Minister has already stated that the new tax generated from offshore bookmakers/exchanges will not be automatically ring fenced for racing, if the tax rate was upped to 1.5% and all betting tax revenue was directed to the Horse & Greyhound Fund, it would come to approximately €60 million, making racing financially self-sufficient at levels that comes very close to the record €61 million size of the 2008 fund. Given the amount of employment and economic activity that racing generates in Ireland, the case for the continuation of government support is very clear. Even if the Government only contributed a fraction of the current €29 million top-up they give to the fund, it would bring the Horse & Greyhound Fund to all-time record levels. Crucially, this would be achieved without alienating the betting public.

The goal of the industry should be to not just attract new customers, but to look after its existing customers, and this tax structure coupled with the investment that the consequent increase in funding will allow for would put racing in a great spot to achieve both those goals. This a hugely significant issue for the future of Irish racing. Make your voice heard.