Now doubt about it, Ian Burke, chief exec of the Rank Group, and the Bingo operator for Mecca Bingo Halls, must be breathing a sigh of relief right now. Rank have just won their High Court case against the VAT man, which means they can now look forward to a whopping great 62million rebate. Mecca Bingo have been hit hard by the smoking ban, seeing a sharp drop in profit, from it’s 103 Bingo Halls across the UK, since the new law came into force.
In this instance, the court ruled that the company had been overcharged VAT on some of the Bingo gaming machines, available in the Mecca Bingo Halls. The decision went their way, after the government changed the exemption from VAT, and taxation, on various gaming and Bingo machines in the UK. The court ruled that some of those changes were, in fact, in breach of European laws, therefore, the government must now refund those taxes back to MeccaBingo.
The refund is relative to one automated game in particular, played, between Bingo games, in the Mecca Bingo Halls. The High Court decision could be appealed, and it is believed that there are more than a thousand similar claims which still need to be concluded. The new ruling could end up costing the HM Customs & Excise a lot more, it’s possible figures could even reach the 500 million mark.
With the departure of their company head, Simon WyKes, and the arrival of their newly designed website, theirs been a lot of changes to MeccaBingo just lately. All in a determined bid to ensure Mecca doesn’t die, a slow and painful death, as have many of the UK’s less established Bingo operators. Seems the future truly is looking brighter, for at least one of the UK’s Bingo Hall operators.
This was an article by Lisa for Bingo Faces on 24/06/2009
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