Cutting straight into the Rock of Gibraltar is Admiralty Tunnel, which was at one time a major staging point during the Second World War. Today, that tunnel and rock still stands, but it is now the home of Continent 8 Technologies’ server farms.
Gibraltar and Gambling
Gibraltar, an overseas British territory, has seen monumental shifts to its economy and has brought like monumental shifts to the world’s gambling industry as a whole within the past decade. The territory has been taking huge leaps forward and has been very proactiveabout bringing online gambling businesses to their shores.
Taxes
One of the major reasons that made Gibraltar such a great location for gambling companies was its very lax tax laws, which allowed gambling companies to really thrive. In addition to that, the gambling companies that operate from the territory are exempt from the United Kingdom’s sometimes hefty gambling duty.
Gaming Companies Flood Gibraltar
Within just a few short decades, the territory has seen a number of major United Kingdom companies move their online operations to the territory. Some of these major players include William Hill, Bwin.party, Ladbrokes, and within recent times, Bet 365. All in all, there are currently 34 major online gaming companies located in this otherwise tiny territory.
Causes for Concern?
While all this has been good for the individual gaming companies and has certainly led to a major increase in the online gambling industry as a whole, it’s status was recently threatened at the end of last year when the United Kingdom’s Point of Consumption tax was introduced for remote gaming companies that required companies to pay a 15% tax on gross earnings for customers that were based out of the United Kingdom. Some predicted that some of the larger companies would’ve fled with the new tax, but it appears as if the majority are staying in Gibraltar and are adjusting to the new taxes. It looks as if even a tax hike isn’t enough to outweigh all the other numerous benefits.
