News

UK ATM operators face prospect of new taxes

Under a new interpretation of an existing law, the government would impose a separate business tax on all third party-operated ATMs within retail shops.

August 13, 2015

ATM operators in the U.K. are warning that fee-free retail cash machines could become harder to find due to a broader interpretation of British tax laws.

The U.K. publication Mirror reports that the government wants to label ATMs operated within retail premises as separate businesses. As such, they would be taxed at a higher business rate.

As the tax code was interpreted previously, ATMs that were filled by shop owners were exempt from the business tax.

This would leave IADs with little option except to implement fees (or raise them on ATMs that already have them) charge, in order to cover their costs — and in some cases, operators might remove machines altogether, a Cardtronics U.K. executive told the publication.

Local councils do have the option to grant discretionary relief to some nationally imposed taxes; they are being urged by independent operators to grant relief for operators of merchant-filled ATMs.