£85m pub quiz machine tax ditched

The Government has backed down from plans to inflict an £85m tax on pub quiz machines.

Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom (HMRC) was looking at reclassifying skills with prizes (SWP) machines, such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Monopoly, as gambling machines, making them liable for Amusement Machine Licence Duty (AMLD).

But HMRC ruled this week that the machines do not include an element of chance so plans for the extra tax were dropped.

In reference to the Monopoly and Cluedo games in particular, the report said: "This is because the random number generator portrayed as a 'dice' does not affect the player's chance of winning."

HMRC will use the same reasoning to decide if other games are liable for AMLD.

The new tax would have cost the industry £85m, or £2,500 per pub, the British Beer & Pub Association estimated. There are estimated to be 35,000 SWPs currently being used in the UK.