Ireland and the UK may be near each other, but they are each a separate country.  When the UK underwent steps to correct their sports betting problems not everyone followed.  A few places in Europe, other countries around the world, and Ireland had yet to really tackle the problem.  China just announced a few weeks ago that they would reform their sports betting and arrested several involved.

Now we are seeing Ireland taking a stand.  The Irish government has decided to introduce gambling reforms to help generate money.  This money is going to the Greyhound and Horse Racing Fund.  The Fund is set up to protect these animals.  Shops across Ireland were subjected to a 1 percent tax rate which applies to all online sports betting and online casino sites.

However, this is about to change.  The tax rate is increasing to 1.5 percent.  It should generate about 90 million Euros for Ireland from the sports betting.  Ireland is also thinking that this increase will help keep local land businesses open.  The land businesses are not going to be seeing the same rate increase.  Instead the offshore sports book will be the most affected.  The Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund has seen a reduction in funding since 2008 from the government.  This was a 13 percent reduction.  The hope is to generate enough income that they can again see a bit of help.

Without the increase in the taxes being charged to sports betting online casinos, the Irish betting industry could collapse.  One person stated that the online operators are not based in Ireland.  They may provide a service to Irish customers, but that still does not help the overall economy.  It only hurts it as local sports betting places are struggling to remain open.

Furthermore, any online casino with sports betting that does not register and does not pay the levy will be blocked by internet service providers in Ireland.  This means that many online casinos could be forced out of Ireland unless they want to play by the rules.  The UK had a different view on things.  The online casinos are still available in the UK, though many have moved to off shore accounts.  This helps them find a decrease in taxes, but they are still willing to speak out about any issues within sports betting such as fixed games since it hinders their abilities to make money.