After the initial reading of the 2025 Gambling Bill, the bill will indeed be a major element of Gibraltar’s gambling regulations framework overhaul.
The law mirrors the post-Brexit changes of the gambling environment in the EU and quite significantly the enlarged network of B2B suppliers. Besides, it gives more enforcement capabilities to the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner.
The bill, which has been the subject of ministerial consultations since May 2022, emerges at a moment when the UK is almost ready to increase online gambling VAT from 21% to 40%, which will therefore negatively affect the majority of operators and suppliers with offices in Gibraltar.
Publicly, the Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry of Gibraltar, Nigel Feetham, has shown his displeasure at the tax rise in the UK. He pointed out the gambling sector in the area was responsible for about 30% of the GDP, directly employed about 3400 people, and generated approximately one third of the total tax revenue.
During the bill’s first reading, Feetham said:
We are working intensively and at pace to bridge as far as possible the gap created by the recent UK tax decision. While corporate tax revenues lost due to the UK tax changes cannot be fully restored this year by new entrants alone, the ongoing growth of the sector will create important future revenue streams.
Besides he deeply felt thankfulness towards the civil servants in the Ministry for their unwavering dedication and the interaction with the UK Treasury through the process.
