Reported by The Guardian
Hundreds of adult gaming centres in England have bingo licences that still qualify them for discounted business rates
Hundreds of high street “ slot farms ” could continue claiming a discount on their business rates, unless the government closes a loophole that allows them to pose as bingo halls.
John Healey singled out adult gaming centres (AGCs) in his first budget this week, in which he increased duty on slot machine takings from 20% to 25%, claiming he was “raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street”.
More from the original report
As well as raising the duty, which will also affect bookmakers and casinos , he said AGCs and vape shops in England would no longer be eligible for a discount on business rates aimed at leisure and hospitality businesses.
The prime minister, Andy Burnham, has been a vocal critic of AGCs and posted on Instagram after the budget to back the policy, a key plank of his pitch to improve British high streets.
However, many shops owned by the UK’s two largest slot farm companies, Merkur and Admiral, could escape the tax tweak, Guardian analysis suggests.
This is because they have obtained bingo licences for venues that appear to offer slot machines almost exclusively. Gambling Commission records suggest that hundreds of slot machine venues may have exploited this loophole.
When the Guardian visited four owned by Merkur and one owned by Admiral, all advertised bingo in their shop windows. However, the shops appeared to offer mainly slot machines inside. Bingo was available only on tablets stacked in one small corner of the room, allowing the venues to operate under a bingo licence.
In at least one case, captured in covert filming , a member of staff said nobody ever used the bingo tablets, and they appeared not to be in working order. The remainder of the venue was dedicated to slot machines offering a £2 spin every 2.5 seconds for a jackpot of £500. These category B3 machines are associated with higher levels of gambling-related harm than most other products, according to several studies.
One so-called bingo venue is…