Isle of Man Not Sweating New UK Internet Tax

The offshore iGaming hotbed is thrilled about new tax policy, but maintains that impact will be minimal.

Earlier this year Britain’s coalition government introduced a series of new taxes and regulation on the gambling industry. One such regulation is that offshore internet gambling companies serving British customers will have to pay the same point-of-consumption tax as online casinos in the UK.

The Isle of Man is one offshore jurisdiction that will be affected by the regulation. However, the jurisdiction’s director of e-gaming regulation and licensing, Peter Greenhill, told members of the media that he expects the impact to be small.

Isle of Man casinos online and worldwide

Greenwood’s optimism is caused by two factors unique to Man’s iGaming market. The first that the island’s casinos online make most of their money serving customers worldwide, so aren’t dependent on the UK market. That will keep their tax bill down relative to their total revenue.

The second factor is that the Isle of Man has reached an agreement with the UK government exempting it from setting up offices in the UK or processing transactions using British servers, which will save a lot of money.

Greenwood made this point clear to the press: “We have negotiated an arrangement with the UK tax authorities that UK facing operators licensed with us do not need to take on this vast expense. This represents a major saving over other jurisdictions.”