No current gambling duty increases, as Rachel Reeves announces UK Budget
There had been suggestions that a tax raid of up to £3bn ($3.90bn) was being considered on the gambling industry; this could still happen in the future but has not happened in this Budget.
Key points:
– There will be no tax rise on the gambling industry, despite initial fears
– Government will consult on bringing remote gambling into a single tax
– BGC has welcomed the Budget announcement
The Labour Party has today announced its first UK Budget in 15 years, which has included £40bn ($52bn) worth of tax rises, as it looks to plug the £22bn “black hole” it claims to have inherited from the previous Conservative Government.
There had been suggestions that the gambling industry was set to be hit with a large tax rise of its own, with proposals being put forward by two influential thinktanks on the matter, with suggestions of a tax raid of up to £3bn on the industry.
Immediately, the likes of Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst and Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson warned against any more tax rises on the sector.
However, in the Budget set out by Rachel Reeves today, it was confirmed there would be no rise on gambling duties within betting and gaming as of yet.
The only mention of the industry in the Budget was that gross gaming yield bandings for gaming duty would be frozen from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026, while it was mentioned that the UK Government will consult next year on proposals to bring remote gambling into a single tax.
As would be expected, share prices responded positively to the news.
Entain’s share price at the start of Reeves’ speech at 12:30 UK time was 720.80 GBp and at the time of writing is 765.08 GBp (14:32 UK time), representing a jump of 6.1%. During the same time period, Flutter’s share price rose 5.9% to 18,300.00 GBp (14:34 UK time), The Rank Group increased 8.1% to 89.96 GBp (14:35 UK time) and Evoke’s price went up 9.8% to 58.00 GBp (14:39 UK time).
BGC CEO Grainne Hurst commented on the Budget, saying: “We welcome today’s Budget and its commitment to not increase gambling duties on the regulated betting and gaming sector. We have been clear, any duty rises now would have hit customers, prevented growth, risked jobs and bolstered the unsafe, unregulated gambling black market.
“Government has listened to the BGC and our members, got the balance right, and rejected calls from anti-gambling prohibitionists seeking to threaten jobs and growth. With policy for the sector already set, our members can look to support the Government’s ambitious growth agenda, generating tax, jobs and investment across the nation while continuing to support sports like horseracing.
“While there have been no rises in gambling duties, we will study the impact that increased Employers’ National Insurance Contributions will have on BGC members, particularly smaller operators like independent bookmakers and land-based leisure operators, like casinos.”
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