UK betting giants move offshore

Betfair

UK betting firm Betfair is following the likes of William Hill and Ladbrokes by moving a section of its business offshore to lessen its UK tax liabilities.

Betfair now expects to save around £20 million each year as a direct result of the move. At the moment Betfair pays a tax of 15 percent on all gross profit that comes from betting, however once the move is complete.

Betfair CEO David Yu explained the move: “When you look at how the UK does their taxation, it's based on all revenues rather than where the customer is located. For example, if you're paying tax to a local jurisdiction it doesn't really work to have a case where you're double taxed both in the UK as well as the other jurisdiction.”

Mr Yu added: “As a global, technology-led betting operator, our new operational base in Ireland and the change to our licensing structure provides us with increased flexibility. It allows us to locate key technical equipment in more efficient locations, to serve our customers better and to compete on the same basis as the majority of operators in the UK online betting market”.

More and more UK businesses, and indeed UK citizens, are seeing the benefits of conducting finances offshore. Learn more about how offshore finance can be of use to you over at our Offshore Banking section.