Horse racing betting tax hell prevented because of Daily Star marketing campaign
Chancellor Rachel Reeves ditched plans to hike the gambling tax on horse racing that would have cut punter’s winnings and resulted in the loss of 40,000, according to industry experts
Your Cheltenham cash will be safe, your National NAPs no longer taxed and your Ascot picks safe as The Daily Star campaign to save horse racing from a hefty tax hike has proved successful.
Racing chiefs were concerned Rachel Reeves would hike the levy on the sport of kings from 15% to 21% in today’s Budget. However, after your Daily Star marched on Westminster alongside top jockeys Hollie Doyle, Tom Marquand and Oisin Murphy, the Chancellor confirmed the horse racing rate will not change.
It was not all good news though with taxes on online betting increasing from 15% to 25% and remote gaming increasing from 21% to 40%. Industry experts warned the move could cost 40,000 jobs and risked consigning the 500-year-old sport to the dustbin.
Bookies would slash the odds they offered on horses in a bid to recoup the extra cash they faced coughing up to the Treasury on each bet placed. That would have meant every punter who backed a winner would not pocket as much money for their skill.
Every race would be hit including the Grand National on which 15m – a third of Britain’s adult population – have a flutter every year. Not only would it have hammered owners, trainers, jockeys, stablehands, courses and bookmakers but also every linked industry from beauticians spray-tanning Ladies’ Day race-goers to cabbies ferrying revellers to the track.
In her second Budget, Reeves revealed £26billion a year in tax hikes during a chaotic day in the Commons that saw her plans “leaked” before she delivered them.
The Chancellor unveiled that the two-child benefit cap will be scrapped following years of pressure from anti-poverty activists and the NHS could be in for a boost.
In a controversial move, she verified that income tax thresholds will remain frozen – a decision that will impact over 1.5million workers.
The Chancellor addressed a boisterous House of Commons, declaring: “These are my choices. The right choices for a fairer, a stronger and more secure Britain.”
In a landmark decision, the Chancellor has ditched the heartless two-child benefit cap, which campaigners have slammed for keeping youngsters trapped in hardship.
The Conservative policy, rolled out in 2017, capped child tax credits and Universal Credit to just the first two offspring in households.
OBR papers reveal the move will hit the Treasury with a bill of roughly £3billion by 2029-30 – yet the administration reckons it will pull 450,000 children out of poverty.
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