Internet gambling firms seek voice on regulation and tax

The online gaming industry is hoping to meet the Government later this year in a high-level summit to thrash out regulation of the sector and how to encourage operators to move their businesses onshore.

Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, announced earlier this year that a meeting to discuss the sector would be held in the autumn.

A DCMS spokesman said the list of who it was going to invite had not yet been finalised, and that no date had been set, but confirmed it would be mainly politicians.

However, Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of industry group Business in Sport and Leisure (BiSL), said she was optimistic that the meeting would be widened to include representatives from the industry.

"The problem we have got is how to get people to act responsibly and set up some sort of Gambling Commission kitemark. It's also about how we sort out the fiscal tax part to ensure that the gaming companies do come onshore.

"There will be politicians there but I cannot see how they can do it without the operators as well.

"It's about getting the players together with the Government, having a discussion about what the regime will be and how to attract them here."

Ms Simmonds added that she had contacted the DCMS last week to see if BiSL could help with the summit.

Online gaming, led by the likes of PartyGaming and 888.com, has surged in popularity. Under the current British gambling laws, the companies are not, however, allowed to operate onshore. This restriction will change when the new Gambling Act comes into force next year but few predict that it will change anything. This is because the companies often pay zero corporate taxes and no decision has been made about what level of tax they will face in mainland Britain.

Ms Simmonds said BiSL had been in regular contact with John Healy, the Treasury minister, about the tax issue.

There have also been concerns about punters running up debts on credit cards, as well as unscrupulous operators based in far-flung jurisdictions.

Other issues include the legality of gambling online in America.

However, the City has generally embraced the sector, with PartyGaming quickly moving into the FTSE 100 after its market debut last year. This was despite a sell-off in its shares soon after the listing as investors fretted over its exposure to the US.