Kindred Group yesterday received a positive ruling in the Belgian Constitutional Court cancelling the imposed VAT on online gambling. Kindred remains committed to a sustainable regulation and sees the ruling as positive for consumer protection.

Kindred Group (previously Unibet Group) has challenged the imposed VAT on online gambling for being unfair, undermining policy objectives and lowering channelisation with lower consumer protection as a result. Yesterday’s ruling in the Belgian Constitutional Court cancelling the VAT on online gambling is therefore welcomed by Kindred. The ruling also points out the inherent incompatibility between consumer protection and tax revenue objectives, especially when products (lotteries vs other products) and channels (retail vs online) are treated differently.

For any gambling policy to succeed and with the “better offer one click away”, locally regulated online operators must be able to provide services of equivalent value to end consumers as services provided by competitors in the global digital world.

Kindred remains a strong advocate of sustainable regulation based upon a borderless digital market and channelling consumer demand to licensed offerings. We look forward to working with national and international policy makers and regulators to ensure gaming policy is sustainable and fact based.

This information is such that Kindred Group plc is required to disclose under the EU Directive of Market Abuse Regulation.