William Hill Leading Tax Move to Gibraltar

Simply 'fed up with too high taxes' seems to be the main reason why many of the UK's largest online gambling concerns are considering leaving the country for greener, more tax-friendly pastures, and others are actually making the move like leading bookmaker William Hill, which is off to Gibraltar.

Many see William Hill's move as a short and sharp 'wake up call' for the government to revisit the online gambling tax issue, because while the government should not allow itself to be held ransom by gambling companies, it stands to lose millions of pounds of much-needed future taxable online gambling revenues.

And the big fear is that if a long-established British gambling firm like William Hill can pull up its roots and relocate, then what is stopping its rivals and other gambling companies from following suit? The short answer is nothing. In fact, rumours are already rampant that Ladbrokes may be hot on the heels of William Hill.

Although non of these large UK gambling companies want to relocate, many feel that if they continue to be hampered by exorbitant taxes, they are left with few options other than to relocate offshore. In order to remain competitive with William Hill, Ladbrokes would have little choice but to also pack its bags.

The crux of the problem is that as liberal as the UK is regarding online gambling - where the popular internet activity is legal and regulated as is the advertising and marketing  thereof - UK firms are forced to pay higher taxes than most of their offshore rivals, rivals who are also allowed to market to UK gamblers.