Ladbrokes owner GVC deals with probe by UK tax authority

21 July 2020

Ladbrokes owner GVC has said it is "surprised" the UK's tax body is expanding a questions into "possible corporate upseting" connected to its former Turkish online betting system.

It said HM Revenue & Customs had actually expanded its probe into providers GVC used in Turkey to consist of other entities within its group.
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GVC offered its Turkish company in December 2017.

The company said it was co-operating with investigation.

closures put 1,600 tasks at danger

GVC were informed of the advancement on Monday, but said it had yet to be notified of which of its subsidiaries were being examined.
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It stated it was "shocked by the choice to extend the examination in this method and are dissatisfied by the lack of clarity provided by HMRC regarding the scope of its examination".

"HMRC has actually not yet supplied details of the nature of the historical conduct it is investigating, with the exception of a reference to section 7 Bribery Act 2010, nor has it clarified which part of the GVC group is under investigation."

Section 7 states that a business organisation is guilty of an offense if a person connected with that business kickbacks another individual to get or maintain company, or to acquire or retain a benefit in the conduct of company.

GVC's share rate was down 10.6% to 778.2 p on Tuesday following the news.
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The UK Gambling Commission informed the BBC that it was "helping" with the examination.
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HMRC declined to comment.

In July 2019, GVC was forced to reject reports that it was still benefiting from its former Turkish subsidiary, worrying that it no longer had ties with the organization.

"The board re-iterates the fact that subsequent to the disposal of the group's Turkish-facing organization, GVC has no activity either directly or indirectly connected to the Turkish market," GVC said.

"Furthermore, the board also categorically refutes tips that the group, or senior management, continue to take advantage of any operations servicing the Turkish market."

Liz Coleman, former HMRC tax inspector and specialist of advisory company Integrated Dispute Resolution, stated the examination might go on for a long time.
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"HMRC examinations are generally lengthy and considering the size of GVC it might be going on for many years, although if there's a targeted method it could be much shorter," she said.
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"They have to analyse all the computer records too, so this promotion code could add a lot more time."

The HMRC's decision comes just a week after Kenneth Alexander revealed that he was stepping down as GVC's president.

Mr Alexander took over in 2007 and oversaw the company's acquisitions of rivals Ladbrokes Coral and Bwin.party.
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GVC reported a 22% drop in total net revenues for the second quarter this promotion code year due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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