Finance Act 1966

13 Gaming licence duty.

(1) There shall be charged a duty of excise on a licence (to be known as a gaming licence) authorising the use of premises specified in the licence for the purpose of gaming—

(a) by way of bingo only ; or

(b) by way of bingo or any other game to which this section for the time being applies ;

and, subject to subsection (4) of this section, on and after 1st October 1966 no premises situated in Great Britain or within the limits of the territorial waters of the United Kingdom adjacent to Great Britain shall be used for the purpose of gaming by way of any game to which this section for the time being applies unless a provider of the premises is the holder of the appropriate gaming licence in respect of those premises which is for the time being in force.

(2) Subject to paragraph 8 of Schedule 3 to this Act, the amount of the duty under this section on a gaming licence in respect of any premises shall be determined in accordance with the following Table:—

TABLE

Description of premises	Amount of duty
	On licence for bingo only	On licence for all games
	£	£
1. Premises other than— (a) premises which for rating purposes constitute or are comprised in a hereditament of a rateable value exceeding £1,000; (b) premises consisting of or comprised in a vessel.	100	500
2. Premises— (a) which for rating purposes constitute or are comprised in a hereditament of a rateable value exceeding £1,000 but not exceeding £3,000; or (b) which consist of or are comprised in a vessel.	1,000	5,000
3. Premises which for rating purposes constitute or are comprised in a hereditament of a rateable value exceeding £3,000.	1,000	50,000

(3) Subject to paragraphs 12 and 13 of Schedule 3 to this Act, a gaming licence shall expire at the end of 30th September next after the date when it is granted.

(4) A gaming licence shall not be required—

(a) for any gaming carried on both in a private dwelling and on a domestic occasion ;

(b) for any gaming carried on in such circumstances that, by virtue of section 48 or 49 of the [1963 c. 2.] Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963, section 32 of that Act does not apply thereto;

(c) for gaming by way of bingo in such circumstances that section 37 of that Act applies thereto ;

(d) for gaming by way of bingo carried on as an activity of a club where—

(i) the subscription for membership of the club does not exceed one pound a year ; and

(ii) not more than one payment by way of a charge for admission to any premises constituting or including the place at which the gaming is carried on falls to be made in order to enable a person to take part in the gaming, and that payment does not exceed sixpence; and

(iii) no other payment is required to be or have been made, and no obligation to make any other payment is required to be incurred, in order to enable a person to take part in the gaming.

(5) Without prejudice to subsections (6) and (7) of this section, the games in addition to bingo to which this section applies are baccarat, big six, blackjack, boule, chemin de fer, chuck-a-luck, craps, crown and anchor, faro, faro bank, hazard, poker dice, pontoon, roulette, trente et quarante, vingt-et-un, and wheel of fortune.

(6) The Treasury may by order made by statutory instrument add to the games mentioned in subsection (5) of this section any game not for the time being mentioned therein if it appears to the Treasury proper so to do for the protection of the revenue, having regard to the character of the game and the circumstances in which it is played; but a statutory instrument containing an order under this subsection shall be laid before the Commons House of Parliament after being made, and the order shall cease to have effect at the end of twenty-eight days after the day on which it is made (but without prejudice to anything previously done under the order or to the making of a new order) unless at some time before the end of those twenty-eight days the order is approved by resolution of that House ; and, in reckoning for the purposes of this subsection any period of twenty-eight days, no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.

(7) Any reference in this section or in any order under subsection (6) thereof to a particular game shall be taken to include a reference to any game (by whatever name called) which is essentially similar to that game; and in proceedings relating to the gaming licence duty under the excise Acts an averment in any process that a particular game is essentially similar to another particular game shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence that it is so.