Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe (pictured) has decided not to change the country’s taxes on betting businesses for 2018 but will revisit the issue before announcing the budget for 2019. The minister had been considering three options that could have added as much as €50 million to the Exchequer for the coming year.
However, the issue is fraught with pitfalls and controversies with no immediate easy answer. The matter has pitted various interests in betting against each other with little understanding seeming to come from their respective proposals. When looking at the Irish betting model it is good to keep in mind that it is unique in the world with its own strengths and weaknesses. A fair decision that takes in all considerations, based on total taxation …