William Hill to move telephone betting offshore.

Online casino operator William Hill is in the Irish casino news again after announcing that it is to move its telephone betting service offshore. You may remember that William Hill Online moved its online casino operations last year to Gibraltar blaming the UK tax regime  which charges 15% of gross profit plus a levy to the horse racing industry versus virtually nothing in Gibraltar and now Ralph Topping the chief executive says “we now have a coalition government which says good things about encouraging growth, seeing business prosper and creating jobs. But the reality is that it’s  just words for now. We can’t wait forever for politicians to come back with proposals on regulation and taxation”. Job losses will result in Leeds in the UK where the current call centre is located. In terms of the Irish online casino market or telephone market there should be no difference to customers experience. William Hill is not the first to complain about tax regimes and it is not only the UK that is affected but Ireland as well. Paddy Power has long been complaining about offshore competition to its Irish online casino business having a tax advantage and Ladbrokes whose online casino business also operates from offshore has closed a call centre in Aintree although still operates one near London. Although not outlining any definite plans Mr Topping also suggested that some of its high street shops were also unprofitable due to the tax situation and closures may follow. It does seem that both the Irish and UK Governments have some thinking to do if there are to be any online casino operators left on home soil.