Under pre-2001 gambling rules, customers paid 9 percent tax on each stake, making offshore gaming companies, such as Internet sites, cheaper. The 2001 reforms increased the tax to15 percent. Therefore many companies including William Hilton Group Plc and Hill Plc moved their businesses back to the UK
This massive repatriation of offshore businesses secured additional employment within the United Kingdom. UK gambling services income reduced from 1.53 billion pounds in 1999 to 1.35 billion pounds in 2004. But, as reported by National Audit Office, it is likely that the reduction under the old regime would have been higher in the longer term.
Current UK government is trying to pass legislation to reform UK gambling law and to allow Las Vegas-style casinos for the first time. The amount gambled in UK throughout 2004 was 8.7 billion pounds. If the proposed legislation is passed, the government predicts a raise to 12.5 billion pounds a year within five years, discounting inflation. According to the study of the Gambling Bill, the gaming industry in the UK currently provides about 100,000 full- time job places.
