Ladbrokes Company intends to close bookmaker shops in Ireland after the raising tax rates

Ladbrokes planning to terminate its bookmaker activities in Ireland as a result of doubling the tax rate to 2%.

The operator also decided to put an end to sponsorship contracts with Irish racecourses.

Currently, the British bookmaker is working on eight racetracks: Galway, Limerick, Killarney, Punchestown, Listowel, Navan, Gowran Park and Clonmel.

It is noted that the existing contracts for these tracks expire at the end of 2018 or early next year. However, the Ladbrokes deal with Punchestown will expire only in 2020.

The bookmaker explained that it would be nice to maintain a relationship with Punchestown due to the high profile of the races and television broadcasts of the competitions. But it’s still needed to think over this partnership.

Most likely, the company will take an overture to terminate the contract.

Ladbrokes currently has 141 branches in Ireland. Since 2015, about 50 gambling points has been eliminated in the Republic.