Chapter 2 Pool betting duty
21.Chapter 2 contains sections 143 to 153 which make provision for pool betting.
22.Section 143 defines a Chapter 2 pool bet as one made by any person at a place in the United Kingdom where bets are taken, made with a bookmaker by a UK person, or, made with a bookmaker by a non-UK corporate body and the bookmaker knows that a UK person is a potential beneficiary, subject to exclusions and specified exemptions. Bets made for community benefit are described at section 153, and excluded bets are defined at section 187.
23.Subsections 143 (5) and (6) divide Chapter 2 pool bets into “pooled stake” and “ordinary” bets and describe pooled stake Chapter 2 bets as bets where the bookmaker assigns some, or all, of the customers’ stake money to a fund from which winnings will be paid.
24.Section 144 describes how a bookmaker’s profits are calculated for the purpose of charging duty on Chapter 2 pool bets and provides that if the calculation produces a negative amount it is to be treated as nil and the negative amount may be carried forward to reduce future profits.
25.Section 145 describes how a bookmaker’s profits from pooled stake Chapter 2 bets are calculated for the purpose of charging duty under section 144. Subsection (1) describes the steps to be taken in order to calculate the profits. Subsection (2) describes how to calculate the “relevant proportion” if needed for step 2 in Subsection (1). Subsection (3) describes the conditions to be met before a top-up payment can be assigned to a fund and allows the Commissioners to publish a notice to determine the appropriate proportion in relation to a top up payment. Subsection (5) provides a definition of “relevant stake money”.
26.Section 146 describes how a bookmaker’s profits from ordinary Chapter 2 pool bets are calculated in an accounting period for the purpose of charging duty under section 144. These are stakes due in the accounting period minus expenditure on winnings in the accounting period.
27.Section 147 describes a bookmaker’s profits on retained winnings on Chapter 2 pool bets for the purpose of charging duty under section 144. These are amounts which have previously been transferred to the account of a person (“P”) as winnings under section 149 and been included in the duty calculations at sections 145 or 146, but which P is subsequently prevented from withdrawing.
28.Section 148 makes provision about stake money for the purposes of Chapter 2. Stake money is the aggregate of all amounts due in respect of a bet. Any payment that is made by the person who makes a bet shall be treated as stake money unless the bookmaker can prove otherwise. Subsections (6) and (7) make provision about the timing of when stakes fall due, subject to any regulations made under subsection (8).
29.Section 149 makes provision about winnings for the purposes of Chapter 2. Only winnings in the form of money can be taken into account when making duty calculations. Winnings will also include money that is held in an account for a person if that person is free to withdraw it on demand. Under subsection (3) no account is to be taken of winnings that relate to free bets, and subsection (4) allows for HM Revenue & Customs to make regulations about when winnings will be deemed to have been paid.
30.Section 150 provides that specified payments will be treated as bets.
31.Section 151 provides that all pool betting duty that is chargeable on Chapter 2 pool bets shall become due at the end of the accounting period, and describes the persons by whom the duty is to be paid and from whom it may be recovered.
32.Section 152 provides that notice must be given to HM Revenue & Customs when someone relies on the “community benefit” provisions at section 153 for an exemption from pool betting duty. Subsection (2) allows the Commissioners to publish a notice setting out how and when such notifications are to be made, and it allows the Commissioners to waive the requirement to notify in certain situations.
33.Section 153 describes the circumstances under which a pool bet may be regarded as a bet made “for community benefit”. Such bets are excluded from any liability to pool betting duty.
