34.Chapter 3 contains sections 154 to 162 which make provision for remote gaming.
35.Section 154 defines “remote gaming”. Subsections (2) and (3) separate it into “pooled prize gaming” and “ordinary gaming” and describe pooled prize gaming as remote gaming where the provider assigns some, or all, of the customers’ gaming payment to a gaming prize fund from which prizes will be provided.
36.Section 155 provides that duty will be charged when a “chargeable person” participates in remote gaming. Subsection 2 defines a chargeable person as being any UK person, and any non-UK corporate body if the gaming provider knows that a UK person is a potential beneficiary, subject to exclusions and specified exemptions. Subsections (4) and (5) describe how a provider’s profits are calculated for the purpose of charging duty, and provide 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.
37.Section 156 describes how a gaming provider’s profits from pooled prize gaming are calculated for the purpose of charging duty under section 155. 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 gaming payment”.
38.Section 157 describes how a gaming provider’s profits from ordinary gaming are calculated for the purpose of charging duty under section 155. These are stakes due in the accounting period minus expenditure on winnings in the accounting period.
39.Section 158 describes a gaming provider’s profits on retained prizes for the purpose of charging duty under section 155. These are amounts which have previously been transferred to the account of a person (“P”) as winnings under section 160 and been included in the duty calculations at sections 156 or 157, but which P is subsequently prevented from withdrawing.
40.Section 159 provides that any amounts that are paid in connection with, or that entitle a UK person to participate in, remote gaming will be treated as a “gaming payment”. Payments will be treated being made no later than the time when a person begins to participate in the gaming, and, by means of secondary legislation, where a provider offers free or cut-price gaming, the Treasury may require full notional value to be taken into account.
41.Section 160 provides that the calculation of expenditure on prizes shall include the payment of winnings to a customer’s account, and also allows for the return of any part of customers’ gaming payments to be regarded as an expenditure on prizes. This section further provides valuation provisions in respect of non-money prizes.
42.Section 161 specifies the circumstances under which remote gaming duty will not apply and provides for additional exemptions to be granted, or existing exemptions to be amended through secondary legislation.
43.Section 162 describes the persons who are liable for the duty, and those from whom it may be recovered.