Labour Tax Expert Warns Against “Unconvincing” Gambling Sin Tax Plan – Guido Fawkes

Labour Tax Expert Warns Against “Unconvincing” Gambling Sin Tax Plan

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‘Independent expert’ and tax lawyer Dan Neidle is raising the alarm over Gordon Brown’s call for a slew of gambling tax hikes. Neidle published a blog this morning in which he warned that whacking enormous taxes on the industry inevitably hits the gambler, not the gambling companies, and that the Institute for Public Policy Research’s (IPPR) proposal is flawed. If even Neidle is saying it…

“We need to be careful about trying to raise additional revenue from “sin” taxes. The revenue may be less than we expect, and what revenue we do receive may (in economic terms) come from customers rather than the businesses making the sale.

Personally I see compelling arguments for reducing the harms caused by gambling; but I’m unconvinced tax is a good tool for doing that. Regulation may be a better approach.

A tax increase may still be worth doing as a revenue-raiser. But any argument for an increase needs a more robust revenue estimate than the IPPR’s use of a static calculation and illustrative tables. And it needs to acknowledge who is actually paying the price.”

Rachel Reeves is nonetheless laying the groundwork to introduce such a sin tax at the budget anyway. Maybe Dan will be putting in a few calls to dissuade her…