New gaming taxes could threaten the future of amusement arcades in Burnham-On-Sea, according to the manager of the town’s pier.
Louise Parkin, who runs Burnham’s Pavilion, has this week warned that proposals by the government to introduce new legislation could have a big effect on trade.
Her comments come as the Government considers a new licence charge on all gaming machines.
Louise, pictured, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The gaming machine industry is already on its knees. We are being taxed out of existance and really don’t need this as well.”
“Here at the Pavilion, we have already had to cut back on our staff numbers and reduce other costs this season. Income is constantly being squeezed.”
She added: “In the last eighteeen months across the UK, 285 traditional amusement arcades have shut with a loss of over 1,480 jobs.”
Under the new proposals all machine games will become exempt from VAT and will become liable for Machine Games Duty, which will be charged on the net cashbox takings.
The new duty will also take in some machines not currently subject to Amusement Machine License Duty (AMLD), covering Category D as well as Skills With Prize machines.
A period of government consultation on the new tax recently ended and, if approved, the tax could be implemented by the Treasury in the year 2013.
