Racing tax: What is it and why is the sport going on strike

For the first time in the modern history of the sport in Britain, its participants will voluntarily go on strike for a day. A day of protest will be held in Westminster.

It means there will be no racing in Britain on September 10. The meetings scheduled for Lingfield, Carlisle, Uttoxeter and Kempton that day will not take place. They have been rescheduled to other dates.

The strike announcement has come as part of British racing’s ‘Axe the Racing Tax’ campaign, which is urging the Government to axe the Treasury’s proposal to bring existing online betting duties into one single rate.

Economic analysis commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority has shown that aligning the current tax rate paid by bookmakers on racing with that of online games of chance could see a £330 million revenue hit to the industry in the first five years, putting 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year alone.

It will, it is estimated it will cost around £200,000 in lost revenue on the day.

In a word, yes. Racecourses, owners and trainers are all in agreement. The National Trainers Federation said cancelling fixtures was “a huge sacrifice” which “should serve as a stark reminder to the Government of the impact its tax raid will have on our sport”.

No more strikes are planned, as things stand.

Yes, there will actually be one meeting in Ireland, at Cork. Irish racing is run completely separately to British racing.