This guidance note provides an overview of the VAT treatment of betting, gaming and lotteries.
The provision of any facilities for the placing of bets or for the playing of any game of chance for a prize is exempt from VAT.
A bet has been defined as ‘the staking of money or other value on the event of a doubtful issue’.
VATA 1994, Sch 9, Pt II, Group 4, Note 2 states that a game of chance:
- 1)
“includes ―
- i)
a game that involves both an element of chance and an element of skill,
- ii)
a game that involves an element of chance that can be eliminated by superlative skill, and
- iii)
a game that is presented as involving an element of chance...”
This does not include a game of sport. It is either a game of pure chance, such as roulette or dice, where the player cannot influence the result, or a game
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