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CNBC on Monday reported that UK-based bookmakers and other online gambling websites will be scrambling to move into the Asian and Australian markets following news that Great Britain plans to impose a 15 per cent levy on remote betting firms.
This will hit major U.K. bookmakers like William Hill and Ladbrokes, which operate from Gibraltar, where taxes are currently levied at 1 per cent and capped at £425,000, CNBC notes.
Smaller bookmakers are likely to be forced out of the market.
"The introduction of the POC tax is likely to cause a seismic shift in the competitive landscape of the U.K. online gaming market," David Jennings and Simon McGrotty, gaming analysts at Davy Research, said in a research note.
Citi analysts James Ainley and Josh Lipman, bookmakers may be able to offset the impact of the tax hit by around 70-to-80 percent.
Jennings said relocating overseas was particularly crucial for bookmakers hoping to offset the effects of the tax.
"All of these gambling companies are trying to diversify their earnings streams, to help them mitigate the POC tax when it comes in. But the number of markets they deem realistic to invest in is limited. That's why they are going to other countries," he told CNBC.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
