Sportech enjoys a spot of luck with a £93million jackpot from the taxman

FOOTBALL pools owner Sportech scooped a £93million jackpot from the taxman yesterday as it awaits the full-time verdict on its long-running legal battle over the VAT treatment of the company’s Spot The Ball game between 1979 and 1996.

00:00, Fri, Jun 27, 2014

sportech, sportect football pools, sportech vat case, sportech Spot The Ball Sportect argued it had been incorrectly charged VAT on the Spot The Ball game between 1979 and 1996 [SPORTECH/PH]

Last year Sportech won a case in which it argued that it was incorrectly charged VAT on the competition.

HMRC appealed and a result is pending but in the meantime has decided to hand over a sum that amounts to half of Sportech’s market value. Its shares rose 5¾p to 90¾p.