Ladbrokes owner GVC deals with probe by UK tax authority

21 July 2020

Ladbrokes owner GVC has said it is "stunned" the yohaig code UK's tax body is a questions into "prospective corporate angering" associated with its previous Turkish online betting unit.

It stated HM Revenue & Customs had expanded its probe into providers GVC utilized in Turkey to include other entities within its group.
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GVC offered its Turkish organization in December 2017.

The business said it was co-operating with investigation.
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GVC were notified of the development on Monday, but said it had yet to be informed of which of its subsidiaries were being investigated.

It stated it was "surprised by the decision to extend the examination in this promotion code method and are dissatisfied by the lack of clearness offered by HMRC regarding the scope of its examination".
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"HMRC has actually not yet supplied information of the nature of the historic conduct it is examining, with the exception of a recommendation to section 7 Bribery Act 2010, nor has it clarified which part of the GVC group is under investigation."

Section 7 states that a commercial organisation is guilty of an offense if an individual related to that company kickbacks another person to get or maintain service, or to get or maintain a benefit in the conduct of business.
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GVC's share rate was down 10.6% to 778.2 p on Tuesday following the news.

The UK Gambling Commission told the BBC that it was "helping" with the investigation.

HMRC declined to comment.
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In July 2019, GVC was required to reject reports that it was still taking advantage of its former Turkish subsidiary, worrying that it no longer had ties with the business.
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"The board re-iterates the fact that subsequent to the disposal of the group's Turkish-facing organization, GVC has no activity either straight or indirectly connected to the Turkish market," GVC said.

"Furthermore, the board also unconditionally refutes tips that the group, or senior management, continue to benefit from any operations servicing the Turkish market."

Liz Coleman, former HMRC tax inspector and expert of advisory firm Integrated Dispute Resolution, said the examination could go on for a long time.
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"HMRC investigations are normally prolonged and thinking about the size of GVC it might be going on for years, although if there's a targeted method it could be much shorter," she said.

"They need to analyse all the computer system records too, so this promotion code could add even more time."
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The HMRC's choice comes simply a week after Kenneth Alexander announced that he was stepping down as GVC's primary executive.
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Mr Alexander took over in 2007 and oversaw the company's acquisitions of rivals Ladbrokes Coral and Bwin.party.

GVC reported a 22% drop in total net incomes for the 2nd quarter this promotion code year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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