British racing's day of protest in Westminster last week certainly made an impression, not only through media coverage but also, apparently, in the corridors of power.
Labor MPs were in short supply among the more than 200 people who gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London Sept. 10 to hear passionate arguments for the sport to be spared from government plans to harmonize online gambling duties.
On that front, Sarah Guest, assistant trainer to John O'Shea and crowned employee of the year at the Godolphin Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards in 2023, was most impressive and should be employed as racing's secret weapon when speaking to decision makers about the sport whenever possible.
However, the Axe the Racing Tax campaign has evidently hit a nerve at the Treasury, which made what was seen to be the unusual move of issuing a statement on the eve of the Westminster event.
The statement was also notable for being particularly tetchy in its tone.
"The chancellor has been clear that speculation on tax rises, which is what this is, is not only inaccurate, but also irresponsible," said exchequer secretary to the Treasury Dan Tomlinson.
"We have not announced an increase in the tax on horserace betting, and racecourse betting currently gets a 100 percent tax break, which we have no plans to change."
There are a few points to make about what was a short but punchy statement from the Treasury minister.
As Tomlinson himself said last week in response to a written question from Liberal Democrat MP Charlotte Cane about the impact of tax harmonization on horseracing, the proposals being examined are about "merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one".
As readers are no doubt aware, general betting duty is currently set at 15 percent and remote gaming duty at 21 percent.
If the idea of the harmonization is to simplify the gambling tax system, it would not make sense to retain different tax rates for different products.
Now, that could of course mean that remote gaming duty could be cut to match general betting duty, but, to borrow a phrase from PG Wodehouse, the contingency is a remote one. Could you imagine the backlash and howls of anger if that were to happen, given the current discourse around gambling? There would be plaster coming down from the ceiling at the Treasury offices.
It would therefore seem perfectly logical to talk about the possibility of tax increases and their potential impact on British horseracing at this point. Indeed, there would be little point waiting to see what the government decides before racing makes its case. It would be too late by then.
The point about racecourse betting receiving a tax break was also strange. Racecourse bookmakers are an important and integral part of the racegoing experience, but their role in the direct financial contribution to British racing from the betting industry is very small— less than two percent of the total.
Tomlinson's comment about racing being "the only sector that benefits from a government-mandated levy" also seemed particularly pointed.
It is safe to say, therefore, that British racing's campaign has made an impression at the Treasury, but it is also probably safe to say that there is a degree of displeasure as well. Irritation with racing within the government might also be exacerbated if the sport's campaign is regarded as becoming too closely drawn to party political lines.
The support for racing's case from opposition parties is, of course, to be welcomed, and the likes of Conservative MPs Nigel Huddleston, Louie French, and Mims Davies were at last week's event. What would be counterproductive would be for Labor to regard racing as being allied with the opposition in bashing the government.
The news that chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves will not deliver her budget until Nov. 26 has extended the campaign against the tax harmonization proposals for another three or four weeks.
The House of Commons goes into recess Sept. 16 before party conference season gets into full swing and the BHA team will be deployed at those events to continue pressing racing's case.
Arena Racing Company chief executive Martin Cruddace told last week's event that racing needed to "keep our foot on the accelerator" over the next eight weeks as far as the campaign against tax harmonization was concerned.
Given the existential threat to British racing should the government proposals go through, Cruddace is correct. But racing also needs to tread carefully judged by the Treasury's reaction last week.
