William Hill is one of a number of UK's largest online gambling operators looking at relocating to greener licensing pastures.
Despite the UK Government's stated intent to re-examine the current online gambling licensing regime a number of the largest UK licensed and based online gambling operators are making noises about relocating. "Current arrangements, especially with regard to applicable gaming taxes makes it very difficult to compete" said a spokesperson for William Hill.
Leading the charge is William Hill, the mega sportsbook who have made no secret of the fact that they believe the current licensing and tax regime to be unfair for operators licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. Their chief concern is that they are subject to tax rate of 15% on gambling revenues, while operators based in White List jurisdictions are paying as little as 1.5%. These operators are still able to advertise to, and accept bets from, UK residents making the playing field a little unfair.
While the Government has undertaken to remedy the situation, this may not happen fast enough for the likes of William Hill, who, according to rumors is taking the 'if you can't beat 'em join 'em approach' and looking to relocate to Gibraltar or one of the other White List jurisdictions.
If William Hill does go, is may well lead to a domino effect with operators like Ladbrokes likely to follow suite. This would be a severe blow to the UK Gambling Commission, who will no doubt speed up their assessment of current laws to try and maintain some hold on the industry heavyweights and prevent a mass exodus.
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