The High court has returned a verdict for the ongoing VAT issue in Ranks' favour. Rank who own the Mecca Bingo chain of clubs have had an £85 million VAT reclaim against the government and have argued the case for a number of years.

The bingo industry is delighted with the verdict and many companies are now hoping for a quick and much needed repayment of overpaid taxes from the treasury very shortly. The Government still have the option of appealing the decision to the European Court but this is unlikely as industry sources have confirmed the government have already put in protective assessments for other forms of tax to reduce the reclaims that the Bingo Companies will now be entering in to.

The VAT issue is the latest victory for an industry that has always been pragmatic with the government, but since this approach has very rarely done the industry any favours, bingo organisations along with the Bingo Association have started to battle on issues and now finding a decent level of success.

The Bingo VAT issue has been about Participation fees on mechanised cash bingo also known as interval games. The ruling will now encourage the Bingo Association members to challenge the government on the issue surrounding main stage participation fees resulting in further reclaims.

The government have also argued that the recent tax hike of 22 percent was fair and revenue neutral after taking VAT into account, now this ruling has been upheld this will weaken the government's argument on the recent 22 percent bingo duty and the Bingo industry will now be asking for an immediate review.