HMRC has been refused permission to appeal in its £80m VAT battle against Spot the Ball owners Sportech.
The British gambling business told the stock exchange on 31 May that HMRC's bid to have its VAT case heard at the Upper Tribunal was dismissed by the first-tier tribunal.
HMRC has until 1 July to apply to the upper tribunal for permission to appeal against the first-tier tribunal's decision, Sportech said.
In March, the first-tier tribunal decided that Sportech, which operates the Football Pools and Tote Racing, was entitled to a VAT refund because its Spot the Ball competition was a game of chance rather than skill and therefore not subject to VAT
Disputes over VAT and gaming duty are fairly common. A new duty on gaming machines, Machine Games Duty came into effect in February. It is paid by businesses that operate gaming machines.
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