Guidance

Gambling Tax Service: online service guide for General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty and Remote Gaming Duty

How to register, make changes to your registration, view your account and submit returns online

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 17 March 2015

Overview

You can use the Gambling Tax Service (GTS) to:

• register your organisation for General Betting Duty (GBD), Pool Betting Duty (PBD) and Remote Gaming Duty (RGD)
• view your registration details
• make changes to your registration details
• submit returns
• view your account

How to register online

If you do not have a Government Gateway user ID and password or you’re not registered as an organisation

1. Create a Government Gateway user ID and register as an organisation.
2. When you reach the ‘Your services’ page log out without selecting any services.
3. Go to Register for gambling tax, select ‘Start now’ and log in as an existing user.
4. At the ‘Your HMRC services’ page, choose ‘Register for HMRC taxes’, then ‘Register for Gambling Tax Service’.

If you have a Government Gateway user ID and password as an organisation and already use HMRC Online services

1. Go to Register for gambling tax, select ‘Start now’ and log in as an existing user.
2. At the ‘Your HMRC services’ page, choose ‘Enrol for HMRC services’, then ‘Register for Gambling Tax Service’.

If you have a Government Gateway user ID and password as an organisation but do not use HMRC Online services

1. Go to Register for gambling tax, select ‘Start now’ and log in as an existing user.
2. At the ‘Your HMRC services’ page, choose ‘Register for HMRC taxes’, then ‘Register for Gambling Tax Service’.

When HMRC receive your registration application they’ll check the information you’ve given. These checks will take at least a week and sometimes longer.

You’ll be contacted by email (if you provided an email address) or by post once your registration has been approved and HMRC will post your registration certificate.

You’ll also be able to view your registration certificate through GTS.

What you’ll need to register

Business type - if you’re a	You’ll need
Sole proprietor	Trading name
	Date of birth
	National Insurance Number
	HMRC Unique Taxpayer Reference - if held (this will have been issued by HMRC when registering for self assessment, it’s made up of 10 numbers, for example 1234567890)
	UK VAT registration number - if held (the registration number is made up of 9 digits, for example 123 4567 89)
	Principal place of business
	Contact telephone number
	Email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example: [email protected]
	Date taxable betting started or is due to start (on or after 1 December 2014)
	Correspondence address
	In addition: For GBD - The number of betting shops you have in the UK - if any - for off course betting and expected annual taxable profit from any: -off course betting (which may include online betting) -spread betting -betting exchange activity For PBD - Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity For RGD - Expected annual taxable profit from any gaming activity
Partnership	UK VAT registration number (if held)
	Organisation name
	Trading name if different to the organisation name
	Principal place of business
	Contact telephone number
	Email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example: [email protected]
	Date taxable gaming started or is due to start (on or after 1 December 2014)
	Correspondence address
	In addition: For GBD - The number of betting shops you have in the UK - if any - for off course betting and expected annual taxable profit from any: -off course betting (which may include online betting) -spread betting -betting exchange activity For PBD - Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity For RGD - Expected annual taxable profit from any gaming activity
Corporate body (UK)	UK VAT registration number (if held)
	HMRC Unique Taxpayer Reference - if held (this will have been issued by HMRC when registering for Corporation Tax, it’s made up of 10 numbers, for example 1234567890)
	Organisation name
	Trading name if different to the organisation name
	Principal place of business
	Contact telephone number
	Email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example: [email protected]
	Date taxable gaming started or is due to start (on or after 1 December 2014)
	Correspondence address
	In addition: For GBD - The number of betting shops you have in the UK - if any - for off course betting and expected annual taxable profit from any: -off course betting (which may include online betting) -spread betting -betting exchange activity For PBD - Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity For RGD - Expected annual taxable profit from any gaming activity
Corporate body (non-UK)	Trading name if different to the organisation name
	Principal place of business
	Contact telephone number
	Email address - please use the standard recognised format for email addresses, for example: [email protected]
	Date taxable betting started or is due to start (on or after 1 December 2014)
	Correspondence address
	In addition: For GBD - The number of betting shops you have in the UK - if any - for off course betting and expected annual taxable profit from any: -off course betting (which may include online betting) -spread betting -betting exchange activity For PBD - Expected annual taxable profit from any taxable betting activity For RGD - Expected annual taxable profit from any betting or gaming activity

Register for more than one tax

If you’re due to pay more than one tax you’ll need to make a separate registration application for each tax. You can do this in a single GTS session.

GTS guides you through each registration application and copies information between each one, so you do not need to enter the same information again.

If you do not register for all taxes in one GTS session, you’ll need to add the other tax by making changes to your registration.

Group registration

If you want to register as a group, the group lead member must complete the registration application and provide details of all group members.

A group is a number of corporate bodies under common control, all of which are liable for the same tax. The group lead member must be in the UK.

Representatives

If you need to appoint a representative you should tell HMRC when you apply to register online.

Appointing an agent

If you want to appoint an agent to act on your behalf, you can do this when you register online or as a change to your existing GTS registration. Your agent will need to have a Government Gateway identifier and be enrolled for the Gambling Tax agent online service. To be appointed as your agent they need to give you their:

• Government Gateway agent reference number
• postcode

Make changes to your registration or deregister

To make changes:

1. Sign into HMRC services with your Government Gateway user ID and password.
2. You’ll reach the ‘Services you can use’ page and can access GTS.
3. Select ‘About you’ from the left hand menu – this will show the taxes you’ve registered for.
4. If you want to make changes to your registration select ‘Edit’.
5. When your changes have been received HMRC will contact you.

What you need to complete your return

GBD

For off-course betting (which may include online betting), you’ll need:

• the number of betting shops you have in the UK (if any) – this may be the same as when you registered or may be different
• amounts due to the business for taxable bets
• amounts paid by the business as winnings in respect of taxable bets
• negative profits from a previous return
• any under declared tax from previous returns

For betting exchange you’ll need:

• commission charges liable to tax
• tax payable before adjustments
• any under declared tax from previous returns

For spread betting you’ll need:

• profits in period on which tax is due
• negative profits in period on which tax is due
• negative profits from a previous return
• any under declared tax from previous returns

PBD and RGD returns

You’ll need:

• profits in period on which tax is due
• negative profits in period for which tax is due
• negative profits from a previous return
• any under declared tax from previous returns

File your return

It’s useful to note:

• you should make sure you have everything you need to hand
• you must complete your return in a single session
• you cannot save partially completed returns
• the system will timeout if you do not use it for 15 minutes
• if you need to complete more than one return you do not need to complete them all in the same session

Important - check you’ve completed all the relevant boxes correctly. If you make a mistake you will not be able to go back in to amend it once submitted.

Read these 8 steps before you file your gambling tax return:

1. When you log in to GTS you’ll see on the ‘At a glance’ page any returns that you need to complete. Your return will not be visible until the day after the end of your accounting period.
2. Select ‘Complete’ next to the return you want to submit.
3. Once you’ve completed the boxes on the return select ‘Next’.
4. You’ll now see a ‘summary screen’ which tells you how much you need to pay. Check the figures and if you need to make any changes select ‘Back’.
5. If you’re happy with your entries and you want a copy for your records select ‘Print Return’ now.
6. When you’re confident you’ve entered the correct figures, tick the ‘Declaration’ box to confirm that the information entered is correct and complete.
7. Select ‘Submit’ to file your return online.
8. You’ll be taken to an ‘Acknowledgment’ page where you should select the link for details of how to pay the tax due. Take a copy of the acknowledgement screen by selecting ‘Print Acknowledgement’.

If you do not owe any duty

You must complete and submit your return even if it shows that no tax is due. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘nil’ return.

Changes to your return

If you’ve declared less than you actually owe because of a mistake you’ve made on a return, you must correct the error. You can use one of the following 2 methods:

Method 1

For changes of any amount you can write to HMRC. The postal address can be found on the Customs International Trade and Excise page.

Your letter should include:

• your GBD, PBD, RGD reference number
• the amount of the error and the circumstances in which it came about
• the amount you owe as a result of the under-declaration

Method 2

You can enter the amount in the ‘Any under-declared tax from previous returns’ box on your next return if:

• the amount of the under-declaration does not exceed £10,000 (net value)
• the amount of the under-declaration does not exceed £50,000 (net value) and will not be more than 1% of the gaming provider’s total profits in the accounting period during which the error was discovered
• the error was not caused because of lack of reasonable care

Error messages

If you cannot submit your return and get an error message, take a print or make a note of the details. If you’ve checked everything and the system will not accept your return, look at the service issues page.

Contact HMRC if you need further help.

View your gambling tax account or return

To view your account:

1. Sign into HMRC services with your Government Gateway user ID and password.
2. From the ‘Services you can use’ page you can access the GTS.
3. To view your account select the ‘View account’ link to view your account position.
4. To view your return select ‘View return’ link to view or print your completed returns.

Published 17 March 2015