Brown scraps betting tax early

Gordon Brown brought cheer for punters and book-makers today by announcing that betting duty will be scrapped three months early.

From 6 October, betting shop customers will no longer pay a deduction of 9p in the pound on bets placed over the counter.

The change had been due to come in on 1 January. Its early introduction will cost the taxpayer £20 million-30m.

Big bookies including William Hill and Ladbrokes already offer tax-free betting on the the telephone and inter-net by basing operations offshore.

In return for the Government scrapping betting duty, bookies will base their international operations in Britain and pay a new 15 per cent gross profits tax on net takings.