UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced the Autumn Budget earlier today which included increases to multiple gambling taxes - yet bingo seemed to get off lightly.
As of April 2026, bingo duty will be abolished entirely.
Meanwhile, online casinos have had their tax rates increased from 21% to 40%.
Experts seem to agree that while the impact on bingo is very positive, they question how much of a reprieve this exception will have on the wider industry.
Perhaps the angle should not be to view this as offsetting the changes made to the wider industry, but instead to analyse why the two verticals were treated so differently.
The motive for this seems clear, and from Reeves' own mouth, nonetheless.
"Remote gaming is associated with the highest levels of harm," she said during the Budget announcement.
On the other hand, bingo is widely associated with providing casual entertainment to older demographics who may struggle to find alternative venues to visit for a night out.
The industry responds
With such a divisive Budget, it was only natural that it would elicit different responses.
Balancing the sectors
Adam Rivers, Managing Director and Global Head of Betting & Gaming practice at Alvarez and Marsal, said: "While this is painful for the online sector, not all business models have fared badly in this budget.
"Scrapping bingo duty and holding machine gaming duty steady gives land-based bingo operators some breathing space, helping venues that still matter to many communities stay on the high street and supporting the wider hospitality sector.
"Perhaps the most unexpected shift is the inversion of the tax balance between online and retail sports betting. A decade ago, online enjoyed the lighter burden; now the tilt moves back towards bricks-and-mortar. How that changes the competitiveness of the retail offer versus online will be a key dynamic to watch."
Offsetting the damage
Robin Prince, MHA Partner, said: "The gambling tax changes have been confirmed in the OBR leaked response to the Budget.
"It's a near doubling in remote gaming duty, so it's going to mean tighter margins for operators and probably worse odds for punters.
"It is likely to hit smaller operators with tighter margins the hardest. The removal of bingo duty is not going to be much of a consolation."
Hopeful for the future
Miles Baron, The Bingo Association CEO, told Global Gaming Insider: "This will breathe a new lease of life into bingo clubs up and down the country.
"We will see new clubs, refurbished existing ones, and the secure future of a much-loved pastime for thousands of employees, customers, and the communities they serve."
The current UK bingo duty is charged at 10%
