Finance Act 1967

7 Pool betting duty.

(1) As from 1st September 1967, and without prejudice to the requirements of any other enactment, no person shall carry on a business the carrying on of which involves or may involve any sums becoming payable by him by way of the pool betting duty unless he holds a permit authorising him to carry on that business granted by the Commissioners in respect of his relevant premises; and paragraph 2(a) of Schedule 1 to the principal Act (which requires seven days' notice of intention to carry on such a business to be given to the Commissioners) shall cease to apply in relation to the carrying on of such a business without prejudice to its application by virtue of paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the [1966 c. 18.] Finance Act 1966 to the carrying on of any other business.

(2) A permit under this section shall be granted by the Commissioners within fourteen days of the date (which may be any time after the passing of this Act) when application is made therefor, and shall continue in force unless and until revoked under subsection (4) of this section, except that—

(a) the Commissioners may refuse to grant such a permit to any person or in respect of any premises if within the twelve months immediately preceding the application therefor a previous permit under this section granted to that person or in respect of those premises has been revoked under the said subsection (4); and

(b) the Commissioners may at any time revoke such a permit by notice in writing to the holder if it appears to them that the holder is not carrying on a business for which such a permit is required or is not using the premises in respect of which the permit was granted for the purposes of such a business.

(3) If any dispute arises between the Commissioners and a conductor of dutiable betting as to the basis on which the pool betting duty payable by that conductor should be computed in connection with betting in accordance with any particular terms—

(a) the Commissioners shall by notice in writing to that conductor specify what in their opinion that basis should be; and

(b) in connection with betting in accordance with these terms the amount from time to time computed in accordance with that basis shall be recoverable as the duty properly due;

but if that conductor disputes the correctness of the basis specified by the notice—

(i) he may at any time within three months of the date of the notice, and subject to his having paid and continuing to pay the full amount which, in accordance with that basis, is due from him by way of the duty, apply to the High Court or, in Scotland, to the Court of Session for a declaration as to the basis on which the duty should be computed in connection with betting in accordance with the terms in question; and

(ii) if on any such application the Court makes a declaration specifying a different basis from that specified in the notice, the notice shall be amended accordingly and any amount by which duty is found to have been overpaid shall be repaid by the Commissioners together with interest thereon from the date of the overpayment at such rate as the Court may determine or, as the case may be, any amount by which duty is found to have been underpaid shall be recoverable as duty properly due.

(4) The pool betting duty chargeable on any bet shall be recoverable jointly and severally from all or any of the following persons, namely—

(a) the conductor of the dutiable betting by way of which the bet was made ;

(b) any other person responsible for the management of that conductor's relevant premises ;

(c) where that conductor or that other person is a company, any director of that company ;

and if, after a notice under subsection (3) of this section has been given to any such conductor in respect of betting in accordance with particular terms, any amount determined in accordance with the basis specified in that notice which has become due from that conductor by way of the duty in respect of such betting is not paid in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the principal Act, the Commissioners may by notice in writing to that conductor revoke his permit under this section.

(5) If any person carries on any business in contravention of subsection (1) of this section, he shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred pounds, and if any person so carries on any business after receiving notice under subsection (4) of this section of the revocation of a permit under this section previously granted to him he shall be liable to an additional penalty of twenty-five pounds for each day after the date of that notice on which he has so carried on his business; and where a person is convicted of an offence under this subsection the Court may, in lieu of or in addition to ordering him to pay such a penalty as aforesaid, order him to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding two years ; and paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the principal Act (which relates to offences committed by a body corporate) shall apply to any offence under this subsection as it applies to an offence under that Schedule.

(6) Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (5) of this section and the offence continues after the conviction, he shall be guilty of a further offence under that subsection and may, on conviction, be punished accordingly.

(7) If at any time the holder of a permit under this section fails to produce his permit for examination within such period, and at such time and place, as may be reasonably required by an officer, he shall be liable to a penalty of twenty pounds.

(8) Paragraph 13(f) of Schedule 2 to the [1963 c. 2.] Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 (which requires the rules applying to any competition promoted by a registered pools promoter to be notified to the accountant appointed for the purpose by the registering authority before the first of the relevant sporting or other events takes place) shall have effect with the insertion after the word " notified " of the words " to the Commissioners of Customs and Excise and "; and if any such promoter is, under paragraph 29(2) of the said Schedule 2, guilty of an offence by reason of a failure to comply with the duty imposed on him by virtue of this subsection—

(a) paragraph 29(3) of that Schedule (which empowers the registering authority to take proceedings for such an offence in England) shall not apply ; but

(b) sections 281 and 287 of the Act of 1952 (which relate respectively to the institution of proceedings and the application of penalties imposed and costs or, in Scotland, expenses awarded under the excise Acts) shall apply in relation to that offence and to any fine imposed or costs or expenses awarded in connection therewith as if they were an offence or, as the case may be, a penalty imposed or costs or expenses awarded under the excise Acts.

(9) In this section, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, namely—

• " conductor of dutiable betting " means a person carrying on such a business as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section;

• " dutiable betting " means betting by way of pool betting or coupon betting;

• " premises " includes a totalisator;

• " principal Act " means the [1963 c. 3.] Betting Duties Act 1963 ;

• " relevant premises ", in relation to any person, means premises of which that person has made entry in pursuance of paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the principal Act or about which that person has notified the Commissioners in accordance with section 7(4)(a) of the [1964 c. 49.] Finance Act 1964;

and any other expression used in this section which is also used in the principal Act or in section 7(3) of the Finance Act 1964 has the same meaning in this section as in that Act or, as the case may be, in the said section 7(3).