Finance Act 1970



Finance Act 1970

1970 CHAPTER 24

An Act to grant certain duties, to alter other duties, and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with Finance.

[29th May 1970]

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We , Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary supplies to defray Your Majesty's public expenses, and making an addition to the public revenue, have freely and voluntarily resolved to give and grant unto Your Majesty the several duties hereinafter mentioned; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

I Customs and Excise

Part I

Customs and Excise

S-1 Alteration of general betting duty and repeal of betting premises licence duty.

1 Alteration of general betting duty and repeal of betting premises licence duty.

(1) The general betting duty in respect of any bet made on or after 27th April 1970 shall—

(a ) if it is an on-course bet, be of an amount equal to 5 per cent. of the amount staked, and

(b ) if it is not an on-course bet, be of an amount equal to 6 per cent. of the amount staked.

(2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that a bookmaker has laid off the whole or any part of an on-course bet made with him by making an on-course bet (in this subsection called a ‘hedging’ bet), being a dutiable bet made in the course of the same meeting, and on the same contingency, as the first-mentioned bet, and that both the bookmaker making, and the person accepting, the hedging bet have complied with such conditions as the Commissioners think fit to impose for the protection of the revenue, the first-mentioned bet shall, up to the amount staked by the hedging bet, be exempt from general betting duty, and the Commissioners shall remit or repay duty accordingly.

In giving relief under this subsection, in no circumstances may any part of the amount staked by a hedging bet be brought into account more than once.

This subsection applies to bets made on or after 27th April 1970.

(3) In this section an ‘on-course bet’ means a bet made in the course of a meeting—

(a ) with a bookmaker present at the meeting, or

(b ) by means of a totalisator situated on premises forming part of the track,

where—

(i) the person making the bet (that is to say the person originating the bet and not any agent or intermediary) is present at the meeting, or

(ii) the bet is made by a person carrying on a bookmaking business acting as a principal (and not acting as agent for, or on behalf of, some other person).

(4) For the purposes of this section—

(a ) ‘dutiable bet’ means a bet to which section 12(1) of the Finance Act 1966 (application of general betting duty) applies,

(b ) ‘meeting’ means any occasion on any one day on which events take place on any track,

(c ) expressions defined by section 15(6) of the Finance Act 1966 shall have the same meanings in this section.

(5) As from 27th April 1970 section 2(4) of the Finance Act 1969 (betting premises licence for off-course betting) shall cease to have effect.

(6) On application made to the proper officer in respect of a betting premises licence for a period falling partly after 27th April 1970 the duty paid or payable on the licence shall, subject to subsection (7) below, be repaid or remitted to the following extent—

(a ) five-twelfths of the duty on the licence, if the period of validity of the licence began before 1st January 1970,

(b ) five-ninths of the duty on the licence, if the period of validity of the licence began in 1970, but before 1st April 1970,

(c ) five-sixths of the duty on the licence, if the period of validity of the licence began after 31st March 1970,

and any amount so repayable shall be paid to the person who is the holder of the licence on 27th April 1970.

(7) If, under arrangements made by the Commissioners, the holder of a betting premises licence was allowed to pay the duty on the licence by twelve monthly instalments payable on the first day of each month, subsection (6) above shall not apply, but all duty first becoming payable under the arrangements after April 1970 shall be remitted.

(8) Where subsection (6) or subsection (7) above applies, the amount of any penalty under paragraph 9(a ), and the amount of any duty on a licence under paragraph 9(b ), of Schedule 8 to the Finance Act 1969 shall be adjusted accordingly.

S-2 Gaming licence duty.

2 Gaming licence duty.

(1) There shall be charged a duty of excise on a licence (to be known as a gaming licence) authorising the use of premises specified in the licence for the purpose of gaming by way of any game to which this section for the time being applies.

(2) A gaming licence shall be a licence for the period from 1st october in any year to 31st March in the following year, or from 1st April in any year to 30th September in that year (all dates inclusive).

(3) The amount of the duty under this section on a gaming licence in respect of any premises shall be determined in accordance with the Table in, and the other provisions of, Schedule 1 to this Act.

(4) Without prejudice to subsections (5) and (6) of this section, the games to which this section applies are baccarat, punto banco, big six, blackjack, boule, chemin de fer, chuck-a-luck, craps, crown and anchor, faro, faro bank, hazard, poker dice, pontoon, French roulette, American roulette, trente et quarante, vingt-et-un, and wheel of fortune.

(5) The Treasury may by order made by statutory instrument add to the games mentioned in subsection (4) of this section any game not for the time being mentioned therein if it appears to the Treasury proper so to do for the protection of the revenue, having regard to the character of the game and the circumstances in which it is played; but a statutory instrument containing an order under this subsection shall be laid before the Commons House of Parliament after being made, and the order shall cease to have effect at the end of twenty-eight days after the day on which it was made (but without prejudice to anything previously done under the order or to the making of a new order) unless at some time before the end of those twenty-eight days the order is approved by resolution of that House; and, in reckoning for the purposes of this subsection any period of twenty-eight days, no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.

(6) Any reference in this section or in any order under subsection (5) thereof to a particular game shall be taken to include a reference to any game (by whatever name called) which is essentially similar to that game; and in proceedings relating to the gaming licence duty under the excise Acts an averment in any process that a particular game is essentially similar to another particular game shall, until the contrary is proved, be sufficient evidence that it is so.

(7) Gaming taking place on any premises at a time when no licence is in force as respects those premises under the Gaming Act 1968 shall not require the authority of a gaming licence under this section.

(8) Subject to subsection (7) above, all gaming taking place after 30th September 1970 by way of any game to which this section for the time being applies shall require the authority of a gaming licence under this section, and as respects gaming after that date section 13 of the Finance Act 1966 (which is superseded by this section) shall cease to have effect.

(9) Part II of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect for supplementing the provisions of this section (in that Schedule called ‘the principal section’).

(10) In this section and in the said Schedule—

‘gaming’ has the same meaning as in the Gaming Act 1968, and

‘premises’ includes any place and any means of transport.

S-3 Gaming machines.

3 Gaming machines.

(1) No more than one gaming machine licence shall be in force at any time as respects the gaming machines on any premises, except that there may be one ordinary gaming machine licence as respects the gaming machines chargeable at the lower rate, and one ordinary gaming machine licence as respects the gaming machines chargeable at the higher rate.

(2) In accordance with subsection (1) above, in ascertaining whether there has been a contravention of section 5(11) of the Finance Act 1969 (failure to take out appropriate licence) in respect of any premises, two (but not more than two) ordinary gaming machine licences may be taken into account if one relates only to machines chargeable at the lower rate, and the other to machines chargeable at the higher rate, and in other cases only one licence may be taken into account.

(3) The proper officer may, in such manner as the Commissioners may direct, and without any additional payment, amend a gaming machine licence by substituting different premises for those in respect of which it is for the time being in force, but—

(a ) this subsection shall not be taken as authorising any amendment affecting the number or descriptions of gaming machines authorised by the licence, and

(b ) in the case of an ordinary licence, the proper officer must be satisfied that there is no other licence in force as respects the new premises, except where the transfer is of a licence relating only to machines chargeable at the lower rate, or the higher rate, and the...

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