HIGHER betting taxes would drive punters into the hands of black market mobsters, Rachel Reeves has been warned.
The Chancellor has been cautioned against clobbering licenced bookies amid fears it will see a boom in shadowy underground operators.
Politicians and sports stars are rallying behind The Sun’s Save Our Bets campaign against Budget proposals to hike the taxes on online bets by up to 138 per cent.
Analysis by EY, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council, estimates as much as £8.4billion could be raked in by underground operators.
And the Treasury could only get £500million of the £3billion in tax, which Left-wing think-tanks claim if bets are diverted to the black market.
Illegal sites pay no tax and make zero contribution to safer gambling initiatives.
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Brant Dunshea, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority, told The Sun: “An increase in tax will hit the betting public hard.
“It will see bookmakers offering worse odds to offset the cost, which will drive punters to the growing black market.
“This will also result in less money going back into racing and to the Treasury.”
Jordan Lloyd, who runs black market prevention firm GAMRS, said: “Research from across the spectrum shows the black market is growing exponentially in the UK, and we are seeing the harm play out in front of our eyes.
“Any increase in taxation will mean less money to research education and treatment for addiction, less money to the exchequer, the demise of horse racing and most importantly, lead to immense harm on consumers.”
Ismail Vali of the Yield Sec online intelligence platform claimed black market gambling now represents nine per cent of the market.
This summer he said: “We are fighting a fundamental war here between legal and illegal gambling.”
