Chancellor doesn't rule out raising gambling taxes after report said it could lift 500,000 children out of poverty

The chancellor has declined to regularisation retired raising taxes connected gambling aft a thinktank said the determination could rise £3.2bn for the nationalist coffers and screen the outgo of lifting 500,000 children retired of poverty.

According to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), hiking taxes connected online casinos and slot machines could rise capable gross to money scrapping the two-child payment cap, with the organisation arguing that determination is "no different measurement which provides comparable header kid poorness simplification per lb spent".

The proposals person been backed by erstwhile premier curate Gordon Brown, but the Betting and Gaming Council says they are "economically reckless" and could thrust punters towards the achromatic market.

The chancellor has not ruled retired taking guardant the proposals, telling broadcasters that a reappraisal into gambling taxes is nether way, and policies volition beryllium acceptable retired astatine the fund successful the autumn.

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The IPPR says successful its study that the chancellor should see expanding taxes connected online casinos from 21% to 50% and raising those connected slots and gaming machines from 20% to 50%, arsenic good arsenic raising wide betting work connected non-racing bets from 15% to 25% which it said would bring different sports successful enactment with the rates paid by equine racing.

These measures could bring successful £3.2bn for the Treasury, which would screen the outgo of lifting the two-child payment cap.

The headdress was introduced by the Conservative authorities successful April 2017, and it restricts cosmopolitan recognition and kid taxation credits to the archetypal 2 children successful a family, wherever the 3rd oregon consequent children are calved aft this date.

According to the thinktank's investigation of information from the Department for Work and Pensions, 115,000 families are affected, with an mean fiscal interaction of £60 per week.

Overall, the argumentation is keeping implicit 450,000 successful poorness currently, which is acceptable to emergence to 550,000 by the extremity of the decade, it adds.

The IPPR says raising these taxes is improbable to trim wide gross for the Exchequer due to the fact that firms are apt to "seek to support their bottommost lines by worsening odds", which means a "strong anticipation of higher authorities revenue" than their forecasts expect.

'An concern successful our children's future'

Henry Parkes, main economist and caput of quantitative probe astatine IPPR, said successful a statement: "The gambling manufacture is highly profitable, yet is exempt from paying VAT and often pays nary corp tax, with galore online firms based offshore. It is besides inescapable that gambling causes superior harm, particularly successful its astir high-stakes forms.

"Set against a discourse of stark and rising levels of kid poverty, it lone feels just to inquire this manufacture to lend a small more."

Progressive run radical 38 Degrees has started a petition calling connected the authorities to instrumentality the proposals, and erstwhile premier curate Gordon Brown said successful a statement: "Gambling volition not physique a brighter aboriginal for our children. But taxing it decently mightiness conscionable get them decently nourished. Decent clothes. A lukewarm bed. And the afloat stomachs that fto them capable their brains successful school.

"Taxing the betting manufacture to enactment our children won't beryllium a gamble. It volition beryllium an concern successful their future. One wherever everyone wins."

Proposals 'would bash much harm than good'

The authorities has agelong been facing calls from its ain backbenches to scrap the two-child payment cap, and has not ruled it retired doing truthful arsenic portion of a broader bundle of measures to tackle kid poverty, owed to beryllium published successful the autumn.

Speaking to broadcasters this afternoon, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she speaks to the erstwhile premier "regularly", and, similar him, is "deeply acrophobic astir the levels of kid poorness successful Britain".

She continued: "We're a Labour government. Of people we attraction astir kid poverty. That's wherefore 1 of the archetypal things we did arsenic a authorities was to acceptable up a kid poorness taskforce that volition beryllium reporting successful the autumn and respond to it then.

"And connected gambling taxes, we've already launched a reappraisal into gambling taxes. We're taking grounds connected that astatine the infinitesimal and, again, we'll acceptable retired our policies successful the mean way, successful our fund aboriginal this year."

But the Betting and Gaming Council says raising taxes connected its members is not a dependable mode of backing measures to trim poverty, with a spokesperson saying the proposals are "economically reckless, factually misleading, and hazard driving immense numbers to the growing, unsafe, unregulated gambling achromatic market, which doesn't support consumers and contributes zero tax".

They added: "Further taxation rises, caller disconnected the backmost of authorities reforms which outgo the assemblage implicit a cardinal successful mislaid revenue, would bash much harm than bully - for punters, jobs, maturation and nationalist finances."