The UK government announced a significant increase in gambling tax rates in the autumn budget, with the remote gaming tax set to rise from the current 21% to 40% starting April 2026. Additionally, a new remote betting tax at a rate of 25% will be introduced from April 2027, expected to increase government tax revenue by £1.1 billion by the fiscal year 2029-30.
Main content and timetable of the tax reform
According to the budget document published by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the remote gaming tax will increase from 21% to 40% in April 2026. The brand-new remote betting tax will be implemented in April 2027 at a rate of 25%, but it will only apply to online betting profits and does not include spread betting, pool betting, and horse race betting. Honestly, this adjustment is quite significant, and self-service betting terminals will also be exempt from the new tax rate. Additionally, the current 10% bingo tax will be abolished, and casino tax levels will be frozen for the fiscal year 2026-27.
Government expectations and market impact
The government expects the new tax rates to bring in £4 billion in tax revenue for the fiscal year 2025-26, a 9.8% increase from the previous year. By the fiscal year 2026-27, gambling tax revenue is expected to increase by another 24.8% to £5 billion. Officials admit that operators are expected to pass up to 90% of the tax increase onto consumers by raising prices or reducing payouts, which could lead to a decrease in demand, reducing the revenue from this measure by £500 million by the fiscal year 2029-30—a detailed analysis of the impact of gambling tax reforms is available on the PASA official website for reference.
Policy background and industry response
In April this year, the UK's HM Revenue and Customs and the Treasury proposed replacing the current three-tier tax system with a single remote gambling tax, but the industry strongly opposed, warning that it would severely affect the retail and horse racing industries. Subsequently, the Treasury's special committee launched an investigation, questioning members of the Gambling Commission about the reasons operators maintain overseas bases, and suggested in subsequent reports that the government should tax different businesses according to their risk conditions.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leader" gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
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