(Corrected) Irish government doubling gambling tax starting from 2019

This is the corrected version of the news article after initially reporting about the freeze in the gambling tax.

After being contacted by the Press Officer from the Department of Finance, Government of Ireland, we are updating the current article with the new findings.

Legislation doubling gambling tax from 1% to 2% of turnover was passed by the Dáil and is expected to proceed through the Upper House of the Irish legislature shortly, thereby bringing the measure into effect from January 1.

The Finance Bill is due to pass through parliament as published in the coming weeks. The betting tax increase will take effect from 1 January 2019.

Minister Paschal Donohoe will continue to engage with the industry on the matter and may make further decisions in the context of Budget 2020.

The Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) has lobbied with a number of parliamentarians to propose alternative and more reasonable gambling tax arrangements as the long-running debate continues.