The director of a racecourse in East Sussex has said proposed government changes to gambling taxes would be “absolutely detrimental” to horse racing.
Plumpton Racecourse’s Thomas Savill criticised hiking the current 15% levy on online horse racing bets to 21% in November’s budget, thereby bringing the sport in line with internet gambling and casinos.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has said the industry, which is supported by gambling, could lose £330m [$444m] over five years as a result, leading to thousands of redundancies in the first 12 months.
But a spokesperson for the Treasury said no such tax increase had been announced and called speculation on the matter “irresponsible”.
