Ladbrokes have failed in their attempt to claim back a $100 million tax bill has been rejected by the UK Court of Appeal after also being rejected by the Upper Tribunal of the Tax and Chancery Chamber (UTTCC).
The history
In 2008, a tax loophole existed that gave corporations the ability to take a tax write-off for loans between that corporation and a third party.This loophole was closed, and as a result, several companies were forced to settle their tax accounts.This included a tax debt of $100 million (£71 million) from Ladbrokes, which the operator paid somewhat begrudgingly, and immediately began the process of appealing.The payment was made in 2015, and the appeal process then started, which has proven to be a fruitless enterprise on the part of the sportsbook and it looks like Ladbrokes will not be getting their tax payment back.This is something the operator clearly isn’t happy about, with a statement, given through media group City A.M, saying:“We note the court ruling. This was a case regarding taxes already paid and accounted for, so while the case may have been given against us, it has no bearing on our numbers.”
The future
Since merging with Gala Coral in 2017, Ladbrokes has become a giant of the gambling industry, but the changes have not stopped yet.There is no evidence that it is as a direct result of this tax bill, but we do know that the company is close to a deal with GVC Holdings that would see the latter take hold of over 53% of Ladbrokes Coral.With the Competition and Markets Authority having given its blessing to the deal, we expect this to go through in the near future for a price of around £1 billion.