Ladbrokes owner GVC deals with probe by UK tax authority
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21 July 2020
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Ladbrokes owner GVC has said it is "surprised" the body is widening a questions into "potential corporate angering" related to its former Turkish online betting unit.

It stated HM Revenue & Customs had actually expanded its probe into suppliers GVC utilized in Turkey to consist of other entities within its group.

GVC offered its Turkish service in December 2017.
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The business stated it was co-operating with investigation.

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GVC were notified of the development on Monday, but stated it had yet to be informed of which of its subsidiaries were being examined.

It stated it was "surprised by the decision to extend the examination in this promotion code method and are dissatisfied by the absence of clearness supplied by HMRC regarding the scope of its investigation".

"HMRC has not yet offered details of the nature of the historic conduct it is examining, with the exception of a referral to section 7 Bribery Act 2010, nor has it clarified which part of the GVC group is under examination."

Section 7 states that an industrial organisation is guilty of an offense if a person associated with that business allurements another individual to acquire or retain organization, or to get or maintain an advantage in the conduct of business.

GVC's share price was down 10.6% to 778.2 p on Tuesday following the news.

The UK Gambling Commission informed the BBC that it was "assisting" with the examination.
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HMRC declined to comment.
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In July 2019, GVC was required to reject reports that it was still gaining from its previous Turkish subsidiary, stressing that it no longer had ties with business.
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"the yohaig code board re-iterates the fact that subsequent to the disposal of the group's Turkish-facing company, GVC has no activity either straight or indirectly connected to the Turkish market," GVC said.

"Furthermore, the board also unconditionally refutes recommendations that the group, or senior management, continue to take advantage of any operations servicing the Turkish market."

Liz Coleman, previous HMRC tax inspector and consultant of advisory company Integrated Dispute Resolution, stated the investigation could go on for some time.

"HMRC examinations are typically lengthy and considering the size of GVC it might be going on for several years, although if there's a targeted approach it might be much shorter," she stated.

"They have to analyse all the yohaig code computer system records too, so this could include a lot more time."
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The HMRC's decision comes just a week after Kenneth Alexander announced that he was stepping down as GVC's primary executive.

Mr Alexander took over in 2007 and supervise the business's acquisitions of rivals Ladbrokes Coral and Bwin.party.

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