Introduction Details of the Sections and Schedules Part 3 – General betting duty, pool betting duty and remote gaming duty Chapter 1 General betting duty
2.Chapter 1 contains sections 125 to 142 which make provision for general betting duty.
3.Section 126 defines a general bet as one made by any person at a place in the United Kingdom where bets are taken, made with a bookmaker by a UK person, or, made with a bookmaker by a non-UK corporate body and the bookmaker knows that a UK person is a potential beneficiary, subject to exclusions and specified exemptions. Excluded bets are defined at section 187.
4.Section 127 describes how a bookmaker’s profits are calculated for the purpose of charging duty on general bets and provides that if the calculation produces a negative amount it is to be treated as nil and the negative amount may be carried forward to reduce future profits.
5.Section 128 defines a spread bet, describes when such bets are to be treated as “financial spread bets” or “non-financial spread bets”, and allows HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to provide by secondary legislation whether a bet is or is not to be treated as a financial spread bet.
6.Section 129 provides for general betting duty to be charged on financial spread bets that are made with a bookmaker who is in the United Kingdom. It further describes how a bookmaker’s profits are calculated for the purpose of charging duty on financial spread bets and provides that if the calculation produces a negative amount it is to be treated as nil and the negative amount may be carried forward to reduce future profits.
7.Section 130 provides for general betting duty to be charged on non-financial spread bets that are made with a bookmaker who is in the United Kingdom. It further describes how a bookmaker’s profits are calculated for the purpose of charging duty on non-financial spread bets and provides that if the calculation produces a negative amount it is to be treated as nil and the negative amount may be carried forward to reduce future profits.
8.Section 131 describes how a bookmaker’s “ordinary profits” are calculated for the purpose of charging duty under sections 127, 129 and 130. These are stakes that fall due in a period minus amounts paid as winnings) in the accounting period.
9.Section 132 describes a bookmaker’s “retained winnings profits” for the purpose of charging duty under sections 127, 129 and 130. These are amounts which have previously been transferred to the account of a person (“P”) as winnings under section 140, but which P is subsequently prevented from withdrawing.
10.Section 133 provides that where a person (a “bet-broker”) provides facilities in the course of a business (other than a betting exchange under section 141) that allows a “bettor” to make bets with a “bet taker”, or acts as an agent for the bettor, the bet-broker will be treated as a bookmaker and will have the same liability as the bet taker to account for duty on those bets.
11.Section 134 defines a “Chapter 1 pool bet” as one that relates only to horse racing or dog racing, is made by any person at a place in the United Kingdom where bets are taken, is made with a bookmaker by a UK person, or, made with a bookmaker by a non-UK corporate body and the bookmaker knows that a UK person is a potential beneficiary, subject to exclusions and specified exemptions. Excluded bets are defined at section 187.
12.Subsections 134(5) and (6) divide Chapter 1 pool bets into “pooled stake” and “ordinary” bets and describe pooled stake Chapter 1 bets as bets where the bookmaker assigns some, or all, of the customers’ stake money to a fund from which winnings will be paid.
13.Section 135 describes how a bookmaker’s profits are calculated for the purpose of charging duty on Chapter 1 pool bets and provides that if the calculation produces a negative amount it is to be treated as nil and the negative amount may be carried forward to reduce future profits.
14.Section 136 describes how a bookmaker’s profits from pooled stake Chapter 1 bets are calculated for the purpose of charging duty under section 135. Subsection (1) describes the steps to be taken in order to calculate the profits. Subsection (2) describes how to calculate the “relevant proportion” if needed for step 2 in Subsection (1). Subsection (3) describes the conditions to be met before a top-up payment can be assigned to a fund and allows the Commissioners to publish a notice to determine the appropriate proportion in relation to a top up payment.  Subsection (5) provides a definition of “relevant stake money”.
15.Section 137 describes how a bookmaker’s profits from ordinary Chapter 1 pool bets are calculated for the purpose of charging duty under section 135. These are stakes due in the accounting period minus winnings paid in an accounting period.
16.Section 138 describes a bookmaker’s profits on retained winnings on Chapter 1 pool bets for the purpose of charging duty under section 135. These are amounts which have previously been transferred to the account of a person (“P”) as winnings under section 140 and been included in the duty calculations at sections 136 or 137, but which P is subsequently prevented from withdrawing.
17.Section 139 makes provision about stake money for the purposes of Chapter 1 of this Part.  Subsection (3) provides that where a person knows how much they stand to lose when they make a bet, the bookmaker must account for the stake when the bet is made regardless of whether the money has actually been paid; subsection (4) provides that where a bookmaker offers free or cut price bets, the full notional value of the stake will be deemed to be due to the bookmaker at the time the bet is made; subsection (5) provides that any payment that is made by the person who makes a bet shall be treated as stake money unless the bookmaker can prove otherwise; and subsection (6) prevents a bookmaker from making any deductions to reduce the value of dutiable stakes,
18.Section 140 makes provision about winnings for the purposes of Chapter 1 of this Part. Only winnings in the form of money can be taken into account when making duty calculations. Winnings will also include money that is held in an account for a person if that person is free to withdraw it on demand. Subsection (3) allows for HM Revenue & Customs to make regulations about when winnings will be deemed to have been paid.
19.Section 141 defines a betting exchange as a business that allows one person to make a bet with another person but does not provide premises for use by those persons, and provides that general betting duty will be charged on any commissions from a UK person.
20.Section 142 provides that all general betting duty that is chargeable shall become due at the end of the accounting period, and describes the persons by whom the duty is to be paid and from whom it may be recovered.