Bingo tax 'should be lower'

Calls for bingo tax to be reduced to 15 per cent.

Bingo should not be subject to a higher level of tax than other forms of gambling, it has been suggested.

Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling announced in his pre-Budget report that bingo duty will be reduced from 22 per cent to 20 per cent.

Previous to the 2009 budget, the levy for bingo stood at 15 per cent, which is currently the figure for online bingo, bets made in bookmakers and the football pools.

Paul Talboys, chief executive officer at the Bingo Association, said: "It is absolutely unfair. There is no logic. No other form of gambling pays even 20 per cent, why on earth should bingo pay this much? It is ridiculous."

He added that the organisation had been lobbying for a reduction for some time and that the figure should be put back closer to the 15 per cent mark.

According to Rank Group the change, which takes effect at the time of the Government's 2010 Budget statement, will result in an estimated £2.5 million full-year benefit to operating profit for the Group's Mecca Bingo business.