Betting (Amendment) Act 2015
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Bookmaker’s licence | ||
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13. The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 7: | ||
“7. (1) A qualified person may apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a licence authorising the person to carry on the business of, and act as, a bookmaker. | ||
(2) An application under this section shall— | ||
(a) be in such form, and made in such manner, as may be specified by the Revenue Commissioners, | ||
(b) specify the name of the applicant and the address at which he ordinarily resides and the address of his principal office or place of business, | ||
(c) in circumstances where the applicant proposes to carry on the business concerned under a trading name, specify that trading name, | ||
(d) specify a date (being either the first day of December next following the date of the making of the application or a day that is not more than 21 days after the date of the making of the application, whichever occurs sooner) from which he wishes the bookmaker’s licence to have effect, | ||
(e) the address of the premises (if any) at which he proposes to carry on the business of bookmaker, | ||
(f) in the case of an applicant who is an individual, be accompanied by the certificate of personal fitness issued to him in the period of 21 days preceding the application, and | ||
(g) in the case of an applicant that is a body corporate, be accompanied by a list of the names of the relevant officers of the body corporate and the certificate of personal fitness issued in respect of each such relevant officer in the period of 21 days preceding the application. | ||
(3) Upon receipt of an application in accordance with this section and payment— | ||
(a) to the Revenue Commissioners of the excise duty payable in respect of a bookmaker’s licence, or | ||
(b) in circumstances where the applicant exercises the option under section 66C of the Finance Act 2002 , to the Revenue Commissioners of the first instalment referred to in that section, | ||
and subject to subsection (4), the Revenue Commissioners shall issue to the applicant a bookmaker’s licence. | ||
(4) The Revenue Commissioners shall not issue a bookmaker’s licence unless— | ||
(a) they are satisfied that the applicant is a qualified person, and | ||
(b) for the purposes of the issue of such a licence, a tax clearance certificate has been issued in accordance with the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997— | ||
(i) to the applicant, or | ||
(ii) in circumstances where the applicant is a body corporate, to the applicant and to each relevant officer of the applicant. | ||
(5) A bookmaker’s licence shall— | ||
(a) state the name and place of residence, or the principal office or place of business, of the person to whom it is issued, and | ||
(b) specify the date from which the licence shall have effect. | ||
(6) A bookmaker’s licence (including a bookmaker’s licence to which subsection (9) applies) shall, in respect of any year to which the licence relates, authorise that licensed bookmaker to accept bets by remote means (in addition to authorising the licensed bookmaker concerned to carry on the business of, and act as, a bookmaker), provided that the value of all such bets during the year concerned does not exceed the lower of the following: | ||
(a) €250,000; or | ||
(b) 10 per cent of the licensed bookmaker’s turnover in that year derived from his bookmaking operations carried on pursuant to the bookmaker’s licence concerned. | ||
(7) Subject to any order of the District Court under section 16 (inserted by section 23 of the Betting (Amendment) Act 2015), a bookmaker’s licence shall— | ||
(a) remain in force until the licence final day next falling after the date from which that licence has effect, or | ||
(b) where the applicant for that licence exercises the option under section 66C of the Finance Act 2002 but fails to pay the excise duty payable under section 65 of that Act on or before the date specified in subsection (1)(b)(ii)(I) of the said section 66C, remain in force until 30 November next following the grant of the licence. | ||
(8) This section shall not operate to affect the issue of a licence under section 7A. | ||
(9) A bookmaker’s licence in force on the day immediately preceding the commencement of section 13 of the Betting (Amendment) Act 2015 (except where that day falls on the 30th day of November of the year concerned) shall remain in force until the 30th day of November next following such commencement. | ||
(10) In this section— | ||
‘bookmaking operation’ means the business or activities of a bookmaker; | ||
‘licence final day’ means, in relation to a bookmaker’s licence— | ||
(a) the 30th day of November next falling after the year immediately following the year in which this section comes into operation, and | ||
(b) the 30th day of November falling at the end of each period of 24 months following the licence final day immediately preceding the said period; | ||
‘qualified person’ means, in relation to an application under this section— | ||
(a) an individual to whom a certificate of personal fitness was issued under section 4 or 5 not earlier than 21 days before the making of the application, or | ||
(b) a body corporate, each of the relevant officers of which has been issued with a certificate of personal fitness under section 4 or 5 not earlier than 21 days before the making of the application.’’. |