SCHEDULES

SCHEDULE 24U.K.Machine games duty

PART 1U.K.Imposition of duty

Dutiable machine gamesU.K.

2(1)A “machine game” is a game (whether of skill or chance or both) played on a machine for a prize.U.K.

(2)A machine game is “dutiable” if—

(a)the prize or at least one of the prizes that can be won from playing the game on the machine is or includes cash, and

(b)the maximum amount of cash that a player can win from playing the game on the machine exceeds the lowest charge payable for playing the game on the machine.

(3)“Cash” means money or anything that may reasonably be considered to equate to money, including—

(a)anything that can be used in the same way as if it were money, and

(b)anything that allows a person to obtain money on demand or otherwise represents a promise to pay a person money on demand.

(4)The things mentioned in sub-paragraph (3) include—

(a)anything of an intangible nature (such as points), and

(b)anything that a person has as a result of the taking of any step by someone else (such as the crediting of an account).

(5)If an adult would reasonably assume that a machine game satisfies the tests in sub-paragraph (2)(a) and (b) (taking into account the way in which the game is presented and all the other circumstances of the case), the game is taken to be a dutiable machine game, whether or not it does in fact satisfy those tests.

(6)In identifying for the purposes of this paragraph the lowest charge payable for playing a game, any offer that waives or permits a player to pay less than the charge that the player would be required to pay without the offer is disregarded.

(7)Paragraph 3 makes further provision about what counts as a dutiable machine game for the purposes of this Schedule.

3(1)A game that would otherwise be a dutiable machine game does not count as one if—U.K.

(a)it involves betting on future real events,

(b)bingo duty is charged on the playing of it,

(c)lottery duty is charged on the taking of a ticket or chance in it, or

(d)it is a real game of chance and playing it—

(i)amounts to dutiable gaming for the purposes of section 10 of FA 1997, or

(ii)would do so but for subsection (3), (3B) or (4) of that section.

(2)A “real game of chance” is a game of chance (within the meaning of [F1Part 3 of FA 2014]) that is non-virtual.

(3)A game consisting of several stages counts as a dutiable machine game if—

(a)at least one stage would (if played on its own) be a dutiable machine game, or

(b)the stages (taken together) amount to a dutiable machine game.

(4)If more than one game can be played on a given machine, each game is to be considered separately in deciding whether it is a dutiable machine game.

4U.K.The Treasury may by order specify criteria to be taken into account in deciding—

(a)whether a particular game (or class of game) falls within the definitions in paragraph 2(1) and (2), and

(b)what counts as a single go at playing a particular game (or class of game).