Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a very brief last question. We are dealing with the Gambling Regulation Bill, which is going through the Seanad at present. Under tax law, and Revenue has an updated opinion or guidance on this, VAT does not apply on the sale of tickets in local GAA club lotteries and so on. I will make a declaration, and it is in my declarations of interest, that I am involved in a not-for-profit music festival company, which operates a lottery licence through the High Court.

One of the issues is that commercial companies - I am sure Revenue is familiar with them - offer lotteries online. Some of them are based in this jurisdiction but many have moved their residence to the North. They provide a free entry to people if they send a postcard. Very few people ever do that but companies are allowed to offer it. These companies also ask people a question, such as how many days there are in the week, so they can say it is not a lottery but a game. On that basis, they believe they are able to sell tickets legally here. They register and pay corporation tax and all the rest. If they are not a lottery, however, are they excluded from the exemption on VAT? Has Revenue looked to see whether these companies that are using loopholes to not be a lottery or game, not to have a requirement to have a lottery or gaming licence under the legislation and to be exempt from that, then fall into the category of no longer being VAT exempt? Have the Revenue Commissioners looked at this area? We are talking about multimillion euro companies.