Top Ten Bingo struggles amidst legal battle

4th October 2010 9:55 AM

Recently we have seen the likes of Rank and Gala struggling to maintain a good level of revenue from both their online bingo sites and land based halls and to the wider public, will be better known as Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo. As Britain’s top two bingo operators the pair have seemingly managed to weather the storm, but at third place in the rankings Top Ten Bingo struggles amidst a legal battle with Revenue and Customs. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the different levels of taxation between online bingo sites and land based bingo which has left bingo operators struggling.

The likes of Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo struggled for a while, but careful management of their business and more focus based on their internet bingo sites has seen them weather the storm to a large extent, But now we see Top Ten Bingo attempting to weather another legal dispute with the Taxman.

Top Ten Bingo, like Mecca Bingo is also largely blaming the tax man for their problems. After receiving a VAT refund of £3.5 million, Top Ten Bingo claims that it is still owed around £20 million in VAT, which would go some way to solving the debt overhanging the company.

A similar case involving rank group, who operate Mecca Bingo saw the Tax man repaying more that £59 million to bingo operators. However, after the court of appeal upheld the judgment against Tax and Revenue, the case is now being considered by the European Court. If the court rules in favour of Revenue, we will see many bingo operators having to repay millions of pound back to the tax man. Top Ten Bingo has 24 bingo halls operating under the Apollo, Walkers and Top Ten brands.

It is no secret that the success of online bingo sites is largely down to the different taxation levels and the fact that Mecca Bingo and Gala Bingo operate both bingo sites and land based bingo has seen the increase from those who play bingo at their bingo sites, throw a lifeline to the land based clubs.

Written by Hannah Jones

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