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Once again gambling in the UK is feeling the brunt of changing laws. Now it is the online casino market, land based bookmakers and horseracing industries that are having problems dealing with new laws. The problem is that some legislators are holding to the idea that these companies need to contribute more funds to subsidizing the horseracing market as a whole. It is no secret that racing as a whole is suffering huge losses. Since the recession, the racing market has been dwindling quickly. People have had problems with wagering for some time now and the recession was difficult on all. People who used to support racing, were unable to do so after the recession occurred. Their biggest problems were paying for everyday bills, rather than having discretionary funds for wagering or racing wagers. Though the casino market has seen some growth and turnaround since the recession ended, racing hasn’t. In fact, as a whole the market has continued to decline to dangerously low numbers. It may take some time for things to even show the most nascent of signs of a turnaround. Because of this the racing industry is asking for help from other markets. They first petitioned for slots gaming to help them. A lot of racetrack owners requested their states allow them to open a slots parlor to help them elevate the numbers and bring in more revenue and traffic. This worked for a choice few, but not overall. Now they are looking for other ways of sustaining themselves until the market opens up to support them once again.

The decision to tax online casinos and land based bookmakers though is not sitting well with the two types of businesses. They believe that this is only penalizing their businesses for the purpose of helping a struggling one. Should they be held responsible for a failing market? The company’s directors also state that they are not yet far enough out of their own financial struggles as a result of the recession and this is another reason why they shouldn’t be burdened with turning things around. The cost to these companies can be huge and legislators are debating whether or not they are going to go through with the changes in taxation. So far it is UK’s Culture Secretary who will make the decision to decide whether or not the changes will happen.

Betfair.com has been in the midst of changes for some time now. The company recently took pains to be listed on the London Stock Exchange—no small task for any gambling company, much less an online one. It is a sign though of how big online gambling is becoming. You can expect more and more online companies to come into the mix of stock trading now that they are seeing so much success in the market. one of the company’s recent changes though is to make its new office in Dublin, Ireland. This may seem like a small move, but it could be a sign of things to come in. There is some hubbub that the UK will be shortly increasing their taxes on gambling companies. This isn’t written in stone, but it is highly likely considering how much success the gambling market has found in the world today. Most likely the UK is going to want a bigger piece of the pie now that it is sure how lucrative the market is proving to be. If that does happen, Betfair.com is ready. The company could be planning on moving offices out of the UK to take advantage of the lower taxation.

This isn’t unheard of in the world. Last year both Ladbrokes and William Hill, two other gambling companies online, moved their headquarters to Gibraltar. This has long been a gambling company’s dream come true because of the lower tax laws in Gibraltar. More and more companies are finding solace here and finding gambling much more affordable. Gibraltar offers a tax rate that is just about 10% lower than the tax rates of the UK. Just like everything else in the gambling market, finding a location to call home is a competitive decision these days. More and more companies are looking for better deals to change their tax rates. There is no universal tax rate to work off of, so countries are left to decide on their own what they want to do in terms of finding out what to set their rates at. Regardless of what changes happen in the market, Betfair.com is ready for managing in the most cost efficient way possible.

It may sound hard to believe, but there are still some countries that aren’t interested in online gambling or legalizing it. Of note on the issue are South Africa and Israel. Now Newfoundland is being added to that list. It is an interesting issue because the world of online gambling has proven to be so lucrative in past months. It is one of those things that is almost a no-brainer among legislators. Many believe that the recession has created a huge need for big revenue in the market. The numbers don’t lie- the recession was hard on every economy. The deficits are huge for countries and they don’t have a lot of options that can bring in the billions of dollars needed. In fact, gambling is one of the few viable options when it comes to generating the kind of cash needed to overcome the deficits involved and to manage the coming years of expenses that are upon them.

Despite the huge dollars available some countries are just not interested. Newfoundland is one and it stands out because of its positioning in the Canadian market. Canada for the most part is staying out of the mix in terms of making mass decisions on the issue. Individual provinces are writing their own rules and making laws. This could prove problematic in the future when there is no universal law throughout, but for now it is how the government is handling gambling. Newfoundland legislators consider the province to be impervious to the problems of the post-recessionary market. They see their province as financially strong and economically viable with no need for gambling as an aid to bringing in money. Though there may be changes in the future, there are going to be no moves made now that will allow gambling into the province. They believe that though the economy did suffer after the recession, it managed to turn around by itself with minimal changes by the government. Right now Newfoundland is dependent on money that comes from offshore oil, cigarette taxes and alcohol taxes. They believe that for now that is enough to sustain their economy and help turn things around.

One of the other great things about Paddy Power is that it is powered by Wagerworks. If you are a fan of online gaming then no doubt you have heard about Wagerworks. It is a premiere company when it comes to building the no download games. You will be playing them in Flash and that is top of the line in terms of quality. Again- it assures that you are going to have some of the best and most visually appealing games on the market today. If you do log into the casino you can play generally four different styles of games: video poker, slot games, fun games and table games. It’s just like a “real” casino when you log into the casino online. One of the most popular games online is the Da Vinci Diamonds game. If you love games then this should quickly become one of your favorites.

Overall Paddy Power is a great casino but now it has some stumbling blocks to oversome. The Irish government is now instituting a new tax that would affect internet gambling companies that are centered in the country. This could make things more difficult for companies that are already under hefty taxes from the Irish government. For example, Paddy Power already pays 19 million Euros to the govenremtn to operate. Now that that number is set to increase, it may prove difficult. Paddy Power is fighting th exchange though– saying that it is unfair to raise the tax structure they are currently under. Operators of the casino are claiming that the tax is a “tax on Irish” positions of work. They claim that that is unfair that they are being penalized the amount for giving residents work. Only time will tell what happens with the tax, but it looks as if the Irish government is not going to stand down on the issue. They already have instituted the additional tax and now Paddy Power is left to rethink its business model. It could be the company will respond with changes in Irish work force, or worst case scenario, it may remove itself from the Irish borders altogether.

The European Union is fighting for the cause of online gambling. There are still a handful of small countries that are not regulating online gambling. The problem is that this opens the door to fraud and other illegal activities for companies to be bringing to the market. It threatens the safety of players worldwide too. Many players who aren’t as savvy may be wooed by companies offering outstanding deals and specials. Once they are drawn in and deposit their money, any number of them lose money or even worse, their identities. Without regulation, online gambling is a sure fire way of putting people in dangerous situations.

The EU, or European Union, is trying to coerce every member state into adopting the same rules it has come up with in terms of regulation when it comes to gambling. A recent report showed that over the next two years, there should be an overwhelming growth of 42% in the world of online gambling. That adds up to about $30 billion in additional revenue for the world to divvy up. With an already depressed financial state, few countries can pass up the millions of dollars in additional revenue they can bring in by regulating online gambling and land-based gambling properly. Accounting group KPMG advises countries on finances throughout the world and they recently release statements requesting that countries regulate the gambling market. It is their desire to make regulation of gambling—both online and at land-based locations—a priority in the world today.

KPMG realizes the value of increased taxation on gambling and how that is the key to bringing more money into the world economy. Many online casinos have been putting time into avoiding taxation increases. Unfortunately, as rules are shored up this may become increasingly impossible. For example, for a casino company to set up in the UK, it has to have the proper licensing. That license, of course, comes along with a licensing fee that needs to be renewed periodically. This is another way, in addition to taxation, countries benefit from regulation and increased gambling. Hopefully, other countries will take cues from the UK and begin with the same regulation process. It promises to bring in much-needed cash and protect citizens who want to partake in the hobby.

The state of Pennsylvania is already including tax-revenue dollars from gambling in its budget for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. The state anticipates bringing in millions in revenue from gambling and is eager to already earmark the money for programs and plans for its future. There is one issue though: Gambling has not yet been approved and made legal in the state.  That is a big “issue” of course and many experts are criticisimg the move to count on money from gambling when laws are not yet in place to adequately carry it out through the state. Lawmakers are taking a lot of slack because of their premature decision to include the revenue. They originally were on track to legalize and regulate gambling early last year and everyone thought that they soon would join the increasing number of states accepting gambling as a viable money-raising option to the market. Now—over 9 months later, a decision has still not bee made.

Legislators are still debatin gthe issue with the age-old argument. On one side the money is attractive. On the other side, the social price of gambling is frightening. In particular, Pennsylvania’s critics of legalizing gambling are citing the threat it poses to the most vulnerable—the elderly and the underage. Both demographics are being noted as prone to gambling addictions. In particular the elderly are being singled out due to their limited incomes. For example, if an elderly person who relies on Social Security checks to get them through their month of expenses starts putting that money towards gambling, instead of bills, they could financially dissolve their life. It could lead to foreclosure, homelessness, and overall depression. Critics are asking if the state has the necessary resources to handle the added stress of people falling into problems in mass numbers. So far there is no agreement regarding gambling or whether or not it should be legalized. Penn State University is an organization with a vested interest in the decision. Spokesperson for the company Lisa Powers said, “So far we are about $150 million behind and we have been dipping in reserves. Every day we do that it costs Penn State’s students and their families.”

The thing with gambling is that it is quickly overtaking the markets of almost every country. Every country realizes how much money it is passing up without the legalization and regulation of gambling. Even the US knows– with the introduction of the UIGEA, the country hampered gamblers from wagering online in the country. That caused people who wanted to gamble to move to offshore gambling companies and it channeled billions of dollars out of the country. The US suffered after the recession and now it is rethinking the move to let millions of dollars go. Now legislators throughout the country want to change laws to regulate and legalize online gambling. Other coutnries are following suit and playing with the rules– all wanting to bring in millions of dollars to their own sturggling economies. One country that is looking to gambling now is Bulgaria.

Gambling in Bulgaria remained underground until the 1990’s when the Bulgarian government recognized the need for legal gambling facilities for it’s citizens. The government enacted laws that liberalized the gambling industry so that citizens could legally gamble in land casinos. In 2008, Bulgaria decided to legalize online gambling and start collecting some of the taxes on gambling that were leaving the country to offshore operators. They currently tax online gambling operators at a flat tax rate of 10%. Unfortunately, this is a very high rate of tax compared to some offshore gaming jurisdictions that collect less than 1.5% in gambling-related taxes. With such a high government tax, the online gambling operators are still able to generate huge profits due to the surge of Bulgarians and foreigners that visit their online casinos. The Bulgarian government believes that they can bring in more people to their online casinos, and they’ve recently developed a plan to treat online gambling as virtual tourism. They plan on launching a marketing campaign to bring in tourists to their online casinos from Turkey and other neighboring countries that have outlawed all forms of gambling. Using online gambling as part of their tourism campaign is a sure-fire way to draw attention to Bulgaria and what it has to offer to foreigners. One of the great things about the internet is that it is bringing a world market to the business of online gambling. Only time will tell what happens, but gambling is sure to be a part of the mix.

The world is undergoing changes in terms of gambling. Governments all over the globe are testing policies and debating proposed bills to find ways of managing gambling. What they all know is that people love to gamble. It is a billion-dollar business in every country and for a wide variety of people. There is no one demographic that is gambling. Due to the mainstream move gambling has had in the past few years, there are a wide variety of people looking to gambling as a hobby and a sliver of them looking to gambling as a profession. This is greatly altering the way governments look at gambling.

A decade ago gambling was looked at as an underground activity that mobsters, criminals and other shifty-types took part in. The only other group was celebrities. Gambling was thought of as either an underground game or a game for high-rollers. Either way average people didn’t play except for a casual penny-game on the privacy of their own homes. That all changed throughout the years. Now gambling is gaining mainstream appeal thanks to events like the WSOP, World Series of Poker. It’s been around since 1976 and began with 6 players and had a payout in the main event of $220,000. In 2006 it had over 8,700 participants all competing for a pot of over $12,000,000. It’s growth like this that is causing legislators to take notice and rework their laws for wagering legally.

Bulgaria is the latest country to make changes in its gambling procedures. The gambling tax in Bulgaria is set to rise from 10 to 12% when amendments to the corporate income tax act are introduced early next year. The purpose is to create equality in tax rates across gambling games and substantially increase government revenue. The proposed increase has passed the first reading by parliament, though some legislators were requesting a larger increase in the tax rate to be used. The country is hoping to capitalize on the huge growth in numbers of gamblers and use the money to shore up the huge deficit it is under. The recession was global and affected almost every country. Many are now looking to gambling as a way to bring in much needed tax dollars to their economies.