betting agents.

Now one agent has gone to court to demand an end to the tax burden he says is "practically ruining'' him.

Mr. Barry Kessell says his 1,000 customers a week should not have to bear the burden of the 30 percent tax he must pay on their bets.

He has taken Government's Accountant General to Supreme Court to demand an end to the policy.

Mr. Kessell says if he wins his case he will be owed around $100,000 in tax refunds. And he has support from other pools agents on the Island.

Football pool betting involves guessing which games in British or Australian leagues will be draws. Every week bets are sent from Bermuda to England, where pools companies decide who has won.

A few Island residents have won prizes of well over $100,000 by predicting the scores in drawn matches. Their stakes have long been taxed under Bermuda's betting laws at 20 percent.

But since a 1991 decision announced by the Accountant General, another 10 percent has been taken. This is levied as foreign currency purchase tax when the agent converts the dollar bets into UK pounds, so they can be sent to England.

Mr. Kessell, of Ferry Lane, Sandys, told Supreme Court yesterday he made 10 percent commission as the licensed agent for Littlewoods pools, based in Liverpool. He employed one other person in the business.

Littlewoods is believed to be the most popular pools company with Bermudians.

Mr. Kessell's lawyer, Mr. Tim Marshall, said the language of the Foreign Currency Purchase Tax Act was unclear. No attempt had been made by Government to collect the tax from pools agents before 1991.

The decision to collect the tax, announced in a letter to agents, was an "afterthought''. The Act allowed "services'' to escape the 10 percent levy, the court heard.

Mr. Marshall argued Littlewoods were not participants in the pools bet. They were providing a service to "punters'' betting on the pools by organising the system.

A pools promoter was the one punters looked to for their winnings, so he was providing a service too.

Pools agents should be treated like other residents and only have to pay 0.25 percent tax on their foreign currency purchases, he added.

Solicitor General Mr. Barrie Meade, for the Accountant General, told the court Littlewoods were not providing a service.

By definition, a service had to help someone or promote their welfare. This covered medical, accountancy and legal bodies.

But to the vast majority of punters, who were not successful on the pools, Littlewoods provided no service at all.

The pools firm collected punters' money from all over the world, took "a slice off the top'' for their expenses, and paid out according to "some arbitrary system''.

"Only the punter may win or lose on this. There is no opportunity for Littlewoods to lose.

"The only reason they pay any winnings is to encourage other punters to throw their money at them in the future.

"Promoting a pool betting organisation is not rendering a service.'' Acting Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward will release his judgement later.

After the hearing, Mr. Kessell said his customers each paid him $4 to $5 a week. Because of the recession and the new tax policy, his total number of clients had shrunk by 25 to 30 percent.

Pools punters were being taxed twice, he said -- once with the 20 percent betting tax and again with the 10 percent foreign currency tax.

"I don't know of anybody else who is being taxed twice for the same thing.'' Mr. John Edwards, agent for Zetters pools, said he backed Mr. Kessell's fight "100 percent''.

"It's hard on the guys that like to play the pools. It's only a small flutter and they're being hit right, left and centre.'' Stock market "players'' only paid 10 percent tax.

Pools agents had not come to an agreement on helping Mr. Kessell with court costs, Mr. Edwards added. "I guess we'll talk about it when he knows something definite.''