From 3eb8caa94ef2dc55363b45c7db7d1983a32587ff Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: aprilzeal2913 Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:24:12 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Add ''That's Just Economics 101' - Learning from LiveScore's Experience of The Dutch Tax Fiasco' --- ...%27s-Experience-of-The-Dutch-Tax-Fiasco.md | 38 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 38 insertions(+) create mode 100644 %27That%27s-Just-Economics-101%27---Learning-from-LiveScore%27s-Experience-of-The-Dutch-Tax-Fiasco.md diff --git a/%27That%27s-Just-Economics-101%27---Learning-from-LiveScore%27s-Experience-of-The-Dutch-Tax-Fiasco.md b/%27That%27s-Just-Economics-101%27---Learning-from-LiveScore%27s-Experience-of-The-Dutch-Tax-Fiasco.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4249ff --- /dev/null +++ b/%27That%27s-Just-Economics-101%27---Learning-from-LiveScore%27s-Experience-of-The-Dutch-Tax-Fiasco.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +
It's not death ... but it is taxing - Britain's wagering market lives on the leaks and rumours of the [upcoming](https://gitlab.and-works.com/almacato714376/the-bet9ja-promotion-code-this-2026-is-yohaig/-/issues/1) Budget, a state of play that is not healthy.
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Horse racing appears to have actually scored a big win previously today when it was reported by the Telegraph that the heritage sport was going to be exempted from tax walkings on broader wagering activities.
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Yet with just 2 weeks to go up until the Autumn Statement is provided, it comes across a meagre triumph in a battle of lobbying and tabloid headlines surrounding this Labour government's 2nd budget plan.
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The industry's arguments have been loud and clear for the past couple of months, with contrasts made with the Netherlands and the growing hazard of the black market put as the counterpoint to tax increases. But with political leaders appearing numb to the fracas of tabloid headings, maybe the most efficient evidence must be drawn from management and the stark choices facing them.
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Sam Sadi, CEO of LiveScore Group, operator of the [LiveScore Bet](http://119.45.49.2123000/georgiannaflan) and Virgin Bet brands as well as its flagship LiveScore media app, directs a company with experience of both the UK and the Netherlands - at least it did have experience of the latter up until exiting this year.
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"Our decision has actually been validated, and we have actually understood the instructions of travel and the kind of ideology that the federal government, undoubtedly associated to the regulative body, has actually adopted," Sadi told SBC News.
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"I believe we do benefit right now from having actually exited previously, due to the fact that a lot of capital was squandered in the nation attempting to get to profitability."
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Sadi spoke with us at the SBC Summit in Lisbon this September when the tax debate was starting to heat up with the speculation of [tax increases](https://xn--afriquela1re-6db.com/2021/10/14/bonne-nouvelle-enfin-le-vaccin-contre-le-paludisme-malaria-confirme-ca-va-changer-la-vie-des-africains-pour-toujours/) above a GGR of 50%. At the time, he shared that at LiveScore 'we do not believe the UK government is going to act so [irresponsibly'](http://chaoqgroup.com/blog/best-leather-bags).
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While it has looked increasingly more likely that the UK will increase taxes on video gaming in some kind, the Netherlands stands apart as ground-zero on the consequences of applying abrupt taxes.
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Since re-regulating its online market in October 2021, the Netherlands has presented much stricter guidelines around advertising in particular, [entering result](https://www.truelovetattoos.it/2017/01/09/easily-add-galleries-to-blog-posts/) in 2024 and 2025. The tax boost to 34.2% of gross video gaming revenue (GGR) on 1 January this year, set to increase to 37.8% in 2026, is a bitter cherry on a difficult cake for the industry.
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Sadi remarked: "I believe what the Netherlands has done to manage the industry and then, within 2 years, boost taxes significantly however likewise increase regulative and compliance expenses in such a way that all your financial investment plans and forecasts have been made outdated, is extremely unusual.
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"While the size of the industry might not have actually been impacted by it, all it has done is combined the market towards two or 3 operators, and it excluded all smaller operators like myself.
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"I don't think the UK federal government will be so short sighted, and I think they'll purchase a more sensible way."
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An Irish bye-bye or French exit from Dutch market?
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[Betting](http://8.134.150.1558080/josephinesynno/the-bet-9ja-promo-code-this-2026-is-yohaig/wiki/The+Betnaija+promotion+code+this+2026+is+YOHAIG) and racing have both entered into campaigning overdrive in opposition to rumoured tax increases - rumours which are looking increasingly like promises as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, hinted previously this year that operators need to 'pay their reasonable share'.
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In response to tax raises, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has been associated with a substantial media project and has met numerous political figures. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA), meanwhile, started its #[AxeTheRacingTax project](http://43.143.175.543000/irismichels618) and called strike action on 10 September, the latter drawing criticism from the BGC.
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Should reports from The [Telegraph](https://www.vipmascot.com/blog/journal-blog) last Sunday prove precise, racing's campaign may have paid off. Today, [Dom Tomlinson](https://bbarlock.com/index.php/The_BET_9ja_Promo_Code_2026_Is_YOHAIG) MP, [Exchequer Secretary](https://pornwebseries.com/@britneychippin?page=about) to the Treasury, hinted at potential further engagement with the BHA when responding to a question in the House of Commons from Sally Jameson, a fellow Labour political leader and MP for Doncaster Central.
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"My respectable pal is a strong supporter for the horse racing industry and for the jobs and economic activities in her constituency," Tomlinson stated. "I was glad to satisfy with her simply last week to discuss the topic that she raises today as part of the consultation.
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There has actually been engagement with the horse racing market to identify any prospective unexpected repercussions for their sector and how they might be reduced. The federal government will respond to the consultation of the budget plan and ... I will gladly consult with the BHA."
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Credit: ribeiroantonio/ Shutterstock
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The difficulty the market deals with remains in persuading other political leaders that the worst case situation of the Netherlands is a major one to consider. The MPs of the Treasury Select Committee did not seem too receptive to this comparison when made by Grainne Hurst, CEO of the BGC, throughout a hearing late last month.
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For LiveScore's Sam Sadi, the effects of heavier tax on betting are 'not that various from any other market', and he included that 'the effects of increasing taxes are quite well [comprehended'](http://yildizlarmobilyasarayi.com.tr/blog/another-blog-post).
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"That would suggest we spend less on marketing, or we need to cut costs, which means we use less," he stated. "These are all understood effects of what happens when you increase taxes on any industry, and I think the method of lawmakers to markets such as online gaming has been that tax does not have these impacts.
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"But they stop working to understand that all the operators, all the industry have actually had to have been required to cut expenses as an outcome of decreasing margins, and that has a direct effect on the economy.
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"You may be getting more taxes in the first location, but you're injuring the general economy. It's not a conversation particular to our industry. It's the exact same as if you try to add taxes to e-commerce, and e-commerce starts shrinking as a market."
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Improvise, adjust, conquer
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LiveScore itself stands as an example of what can occur in the worst case situation of taxation negatively impacting a business - that [organization](http://47.102.215.21246846/gidgethouck38/the-bet-naija-promo-code-2026-is-yohaig/wiki/The+Bet9ja+promo+code+2026+is+YOHAIG) will just be forced to withdraw from the marketplace.
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Again, the Netherlands comes up here. The much heavier concerns of tax indicated that it was no longer worth it for LiveScore to continue operating in the country, therefore it minimized efforts in more cost effective markets.
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While Sadi might be confident that the UK will not share the 'irresponsibility' of its counterparts in the Netherlands, and [LiveScore](http://gitlab.ndda.fr/edwardpence55/the-bet-naija-promo-code-2026-is-yohaig/-/issues/1) as a brand name may well be placed to ride out tax obstacles, other small and medium sized bookies may not be so lucky.
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The UK's tax argument has seen 2 situations. The very first of these was a merger of 21% Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) and 15% General Betting Duty and Pool Betting Duty to one 21% rate. This was supported by the likes of former PM Gordon Brown as a means to relieve the UK's undoubtedly of youth hardship.
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In case of horse racing's exemption, the 20% machine games task (MGD) and 21% RGD will bear more of a problem. It has been anticipated that the previous might rise up to 50% and the latter to 40%.
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For smaller bookmakers, concerns still are plentiful that [tax walkings](http://tangxj.cn6012/wilhelminagohe) could clean them off the map. David Pluck, an independent bookmaker with a chain of stores in North West England, told the Racing Post this week that "there won't be any betting shops left very quickly if the greatest tax increases being spoken about come in".
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In LiveScore's experience of the Netherlands, the company was able to dodge the tax bullet and reinvest elsewhere. For companies like these with an international presence this is always a choice, even if it implies departing what has been among the world's most profitable and extensively related to regulated markets in the UK.
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rawf8/Shutterstock
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"It enabled us to move capital and focus to other markets, and that's also something that regulative bodies comprehend," Sadi reviewed the Dutch exit.
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"Companies have an option where to allocate capital, and that's not just a monetary investment that we're no longer making into the Netherlands in forms of marketing, however also in terms of work.
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"We obviously do not have a Netherlands-facing team anymore, which is employment that the marketplace no longer obtains from us and from numerous other operators. We've shifted our focus and our capital to markets where we think we have a long term possibility of reaching success - that's simply economics 101."
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Rachel Reeves took an uncommon step earlier today when she made a speech from Downing Street ahead of the budget plan, something not usually carried out in UK politics. For many observers, this was successfully a verification that taxes will increase.
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