The Churchill Betting Tax, 1926-30: A historical and economic perspective

Abstract

This paper examines British Government policy with regard to the taxation of betting, from a historical and economic perspective. The taxation of betting is traced to the introduction in 1926 of a tax on betting turnover by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill. By 1930 the tax had been scrapped. This paper seeks to examine what lessons can be learned from this attempt at the introduction of a new tax and from subsequent Government policy with respect to betting taxation, and asks what policy implications can be drawn by other countries experimenting with the introduction of taxes on the turnover or gross profits of their betting operators.