Betting Chiefs Press Chancellor to Reject Further Gambling Tax Rises

Chief executives of six Betting and Gaming Council member companies have written to Chancellor John Healey urging him to rule out further increases in gambling duties at the november 2026 Budget, including any rise in Machine Games Duty, and to pause the planned increase in General Betting Duty due in april 2027, the Betting and Gaming Council announced on 14. oktober 2026.

The letter is signed by the bosses of Entain, Flutter UK & Ireland, bet365, Bally’s Corporation, evoke and Betfred, all members of the Betting and Gaming Council. Alongside ruling out any rise in Machine Games Duty, it asks the Chancellor to pause the planned General Betting Duty increase until the impact of tax rises already introduced has been fully assessed.

Closures and Job Losses Since the 2025 Budget

The letter warns that, since the 2025 Budget, more than 600 betting shops have closed and 10,250 jobs across online and retail have been lost or announced for redundancy. That total includes closures at Betfred and William Hill, shops under review at Paddy Power and 300 job cuts at bet365 in Stoke-on-Trent. Betting shop numbers in Great Britain have already fallen by around 38 per cent since 2015, according to Gambling Commission data cited by the council.

The CEOs also highlighted analysis by EY estimating that doubling Machine Games Duty on Category B machines to 40 per cent could lead to a further 690 to 1,470 betting shop closures, 28 to 34 casino closures and 11,600 to 15,900 job losses.

The EY analysis estimates a net loss to the Exchequer of up to £124 million from such a rise, while horseracing alone would take a hit of at least £40 million through lost levy and media-rights payments, according to the figures cited in the announcement.

The 2025 Budget Duty Measures

The 2025 Budget increased Remote Gaming Duty from 21 per cent to 40 per cent from 1. april 2026, according to a House of Commons Library briefing on the Budget’s gambling taxation measures. It also introduced a new remote betting rate within General Betting Duty, set at 25 per cent from 1. april 2027, and abolished bingo duty from 1. april 2026. Remote bets on UK horseracing are excluded from the new remote betting rate and remain subject to current rates.

The measures followed a consultation on the taxation of remote gambling announced at the Autumn 2024 Budget, which ran from 23. april 2025 to 21. juli 2025. The measures are estimated to raise £810 million in 2026/27, rising to £1.16 billion in 2030/31, according to the briefing. Provision to implement all three measures, covering the Remote Gaming Duty increase, the new remote betting rate and the abolition of bingo duty, is included in the Finance Act 2026.

BGC Chief Executive Grainne Hurst said the letter delivered a stark warning to the Chancellor, and that further tax rises will close more businesses, cost thousands more jobs and damage British sport, while potentially leaving the Treasury worse off. She described the losses as real jobs, real livelihoods and businesses at the heart of communities across Britain, and said further tax rises will only accelerate that decline.

Hurst said the industry is already grappling with the near doubling of Remote Gaming Duty, and that the Chancellor must rule out further tax rises at this Budget, including on Machine Games Duty, and pause the planned increase in General Betting Duty. “You cannot tax businesses that have closed, and the Government risks destroying jobs and investment without raising a penny more for the Treasury,” she said.

The Budget at which the six companies want further gambling duty rises ruled out takes place in november 2026. The planned increase in General Betting Duty that the letter asks the Chancellor to pause is due in april 2027.