Ladbrokes Coral Volunteers for Extra Greyhound Tax

UK-based operator Ladbrokes-Coral is bucking the long-held traditions of capitalism and has voluntarily agreed to pay taxes on revenue it collects from offshore greyhound racing wagers. It’s a move that sounds fairly altruistic on its face but, when all is said and done, winds up serving the company’s needs.
Earlier this week, the company announced that at the beginning of the year it would begin voluntarily ponying up a ten percent tax on revenue derived from offshore wagers placed on UK track events. The company’s willingness to pay a tax on international wagers is voluntary while the tax on domestic wagers is not.
Ladbroke Coral is waiting until the beginning of 2018 to implement the plan as that’s when all UK operators begin paying ten percent on horse and greyhound wagers as opposed to the .06 percent they pay today.
Revenue collected from the greyhound tax will flow into the British Greyhound Racing Fund. This fund is used to help subsidize the rapidly fading UK greyhound racing industry. That industry is frequented by just three percent of the UK population, according to a statistic published recently on CalvinAyre.com.
Ladbrokes Coral CEO Jim Mullen said that while the company doesn’t necessarily think the new taxes are essential, “…we do recognize that it is time for the industry to move on and start to rebuild the sport.”
His company is actually in a good spot for recognizing what’s going on in the dog racing business as it operates four UK greyhound racing tracks. In that capacity, Ladbrokes Coral stands to see a decent return on its voluntary tax paying.