Finance Act 1997

11 Rate of gaming duty

(1) Gaming duty shall be charged on premises for every accounting period which contains a time when dutiable gaming takes place on those premises.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the amount of gaming duty which is charged on any premises for any accounting period shall be calculated, in accordance with the following Table, by—

(a) applying the rates specified in that Table to the parts so specified of the gross gaming yield in that period from the premises; and

(b) aggregating the results.

Table

Part of gross gaming yield	Rate
The first £450,000	2½ per cent.
The next £2,250,000	12½ per cent.
The next £2,700,000	25 per cent.
The remainder	33⅓ per cent.

(3) Where, in an accounting period, unregistered gaming takes place on any premises, the amount of gaming duty which is charged on those premises for that period shall be equal to 33⅓ per cent. of the gross gaming yield in that period from the premises.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above, unregistered gaming takes place on premises in an accounting period if—

(a) dutiable gaming takes place on those premises at any time in that period, and

(b) at that time those premises are not specified in the entry on the gaming duty register for a person by whom at that time they are notifiable for the purposes of paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to this Act.

(5) The Commissioners may by regulations—

(a) provide for the cases in which dutiable gaming is to be treated as taking place on any premises for part only of an accounting period; and

(b) in relation to such cases, provide for the parts of the gross gaming yield specified in the first column of the Table in subsection (2) above to be reduced in relation to those premises for that accounting period in such manner as may be determined in accordance with the regulations.

(6) Where the Commissioners are satisfied—

(a) that dutiable gaming is, has been or may be taking place in the course of any accounting period at different premises situated at the same location or in very close proximity to each other, and

(b) that the activities carried on at those premises are connected or form part of the same business or are, or are comprised in, connected businesses,

the Commissioners may direct that for the purposes of gaming duty the different premises are to be treated as different parts of the same premises.

(7) Sections 14 to 16 of the [1994 c. 9.] Finance Act 1994 (review and appeals) shall have effect in relation to any decision of the Commissioners to make or vary a direction under subsection (6) above as if that decision were a decision of a description specified in Schedule 5 to that Act.

(8) For the purposes of this section the gross gaming yield from any premises in any accounting period shall consist of the aggregate of—

(a) the gaming receipts for that period from those premises; and

(b) where a provider of the premises (or a person acting on his behalf) is banker in relation to any dutiable gaming taking place on those premises in that period, the banker’s profits for that period from that gaming.

(9) For the purposes of subsection (8) above the gaming receipts for an accounting period from any premises are the receipts in that period from charges made in connection with any dutiable gaming which has taken place on the premises other than—

(a) so much of any charge as represents value added tax, and

(b) any charge the payment of which confers no more than an entitlement to admission to the premises.

(10) In subsection (8) above the reference to the banker’s profits from any gaming is a reference to the amount (if any) by which the value specified in paragraph (a) below exceeds the value specified in paragraph (b) below, that is to say—

(a) the value, in money or money’s worth, of the stakes staked with the banker in any such gaming; and

(b) the value, in money or money’s worth, of the winnings paid by the banker to those taking part in such gaming otherwise than on behalf of a provider of the premises.

(11) The Treasury may by order made by statutory instrument amend subsections (8) to (10) above.