{"id":9666,"date":"2025-08-19T07:57:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T07:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/19\/paddy-power-co-founder-rejects-black-market-excuse-on-gambling-taxes\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T07:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T07:57:57","slug":"paddy-power-co-founder-rejects-black-market-excuse-on-gambling-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/19\/paddy-power-co-founder-rejects-black-market-excuse-on-gambling-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddy Power Co-Founder Rejects Black Market Excuse on Gambling Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The debate around gambling taxes in the UK is heating up, and few voices carry as much weight as Stewart Kenny, co-founder of Paddy Power. Once at the heart of the betting industry, Kenny is now one of its most outspoken critics. His latest comments challenge the industry\u2019s go-to argument that higher taxes will drive bettors into the arms of illegal operators.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>UK gambling operators are forecast to earn around \u00a34 billion globally in profits this year.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Treasury expects to collect \u00a33.8 billion from current gambling levies.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Paddy Power\u2019s parent company Flutter projects annual profits of \u00a32.45 billion, up nearly 40%.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p>Kenny, who left Paddy Power in 2016, admitted that during his time as an executive he leaned on the black market argument to fend off political pressure. <em>\u201cI\u2019m embarrassed to admit this\u2026we knew it was way exaggerated but it is the perfect way of saying \u2018the government will lose money\u2019 \u2013 but in fact it won\u2019t,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n<p>His remarks land at a time when Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces calls to raise gambling taxes to help fund welfare programs and address problem gambling. The push follows another quarter of strong results across the industry, with major bookmakers reporting soaring revenues despite growing public and political pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Executives at top firms, however, are pushing back. Peter Jackson, chief executive of Flutter, argued that keeping taxes at current levels is vital to protecting players. <em>\u201cIt\u2019s really important (to) keep customers in the legitimate market where we can make sure we can look after them,\u201d<\/em> Jackson said. Flutter owns Paddy Power and several other high-profile betting brands.<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-items box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"box-100 space-org-3-item relative border-tb mt-1 \">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-ins box-100 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-logo-title-box box-100 text-left relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-box box-25 relative img-radius\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/mirax-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t<amp-img alt=\"Mirax Casino\" src=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Mirax-Casino.png.webp\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" layout=\"fixed\"><br \/>\n\t\t<\/amp-img><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-logo-title box-25 relative py-10\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/mirax-casino\/\" title=\"Mirax Casino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mirax Casino<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-terms-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t<strong>350% or 5BTC + <strong>150 Spins!<\/strong><\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"pt-1\">New players only. Exclusive Welcome Bonus of 350% + 150 Free Spins\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating box-25 relative mb-10\">\n<div class=\"rating-box text-center box-100  relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-rating-box relative\">\n<div class=\"stars\"><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><span class=\"star on\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-rating-notice relative\">Casino<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button box-25 relative\">\n<div class=\"space-org-3-item-button-ins box-100 text-center relative\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/site\/mirax-casino\/\" title=\"Visit Site\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\tVisit Site<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Evoke, the parent company of William Hill, has also taken a clear stance. Finance chief Sean Wilkins warned that increasing the tax burden will<em> \u201conly lead to a growth in the black market.\u201d<\/em> Analysts estimate Evoke\u2019s profits at around \u00a3362 million this year.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Entain chief executive Stella David, whose company operates Ladbrokes, raised concerns about what she called<em> \u201cthe law of unintended consequences.\u201d<\/em> Like other operators, she believes tougher tax policies could disrupt consumer protection efforts by making illegal platforms more appealing.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the industry\u2019s warnings, the government has shown growing interest in rebalancing the tax system. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects to pull in nearly \u00a33.8 billion from existing gambling taxes this year, but campaigners argue that a bigger slice should come from companies that continue to post strong profits while problem gambling remains a national issue.<\/p>\n<p>In March, Kenny had <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/paddy-power-co-founder-stewart-kenny-calls-for-stricter-online-slot-regulations\/\">criticized<\/a> the UK\u2019s new online slots legislation. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he acknowledged that stake limits are a step forward but argued they fall short of offering real protection for vulnerable players.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/paddy-power-co-founder-rejects-black-market-excuse-on-gambling-taxes\/\">Paddy Power Co-Founder Rejects Black Market Excuse on Gambling Taxes<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The debate around gambling taxes in the UK is heating up, and few voices carry as much weight as Stewart Kenny, co-founder of Paddy Power. Once at the heart of the betting industry, Kenny is now one of its most outspoken critics. His latest comments challenge the industry\u2019s go-to argument that higher taxes will drive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}