Tax win for UK gaming operators

UK AWP operators have won a claim against the tax authorities in connection with Value Added Tax levied years ago.

Between 2005 and 2013 VAT was charged on the take of gaming machines, incorrectly in the view of trade association BACTA, which has championed the cause of the industry in a long-running legal battle between certain of the operators and the taxman.

It was learned yesterday that a First Tier Tribunal has ruled on the case of VAT on gaming machines for that period and it upheld a previous judgment last year that VAT should not have been charged.

The tax authorities now have two months to appeal, warns BACTA, so the matter may not yet be ended, but it appears that AWP operators in the UK will at last get their money returned.