The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has released its official statement in response to the UK Government's Autumn Budget, which will see online gambling taxes raised from 21% to 40% from April 2026.
In addition to the 19% tax hike on the remote gaming sector, the UK will also raise sports betting taxes from 15% to 25% from April 2027, as part of the Government's overall bid to help raise £1.1bn+ ($1.45bn) per year by 2031.
Responding to this decision, Grainne Hurst - CEO of the BGC - stated: "Massive tax increases for online betting and gaming announced in the Budget make them among the highest in the world, and are a devastating hammer blow to tens of thousands of people working in the industry across the UK, and millions of customers who enjoy a bet.
"Regulated betting and gaming is one of the UK's few globally successful sectors, generating £6.8bn for the economy, contributing over £4bn in tax and supporting 109,000 jobs, while delivering vital funding for British sport."
Indeed, these comments highlight the fear that the industry's attractiveness to overseas investors, alongside homegrown jobs and operational costs will be significantly impacted by the new Budget. Moreover, there were deep fears in the industry that gambling could be hit with taxes as high as 50%, with numerous operators stating that this would force them out of the market.
Betfred Founder Fred Done went as far as to say that he would close all 1,287 of the company's UK branches should this eventuality unfold. As it stands, however, the retail industry has been left as it is, with the long-standing 10% duty on bingo also having been scrapped.
Continuing, Hurst's statement reads: While we welcome the decision not to raise land-based duties and to scrap bingo duty - these excessive online tax increases will undermine jobs, investment and growth across the UK.
"The Government's Budget is a massive win for the incredibly harmful, unsafe, unregulated gambling black market, which pays no tax and offers none of the protections that exist in the regulated sector. These decisions are bad for jobs, bad for customers, bad for sports - and bad for safer gambling"
Conversely, despite the rife fears of negative business impact from the budget, many UK gambling operators have experienced rises in share prices in the hours since the budget was released - with Rank Group's shares having jumped 9.51%.
Prior to Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcement of the bill, the Office of Budget Responsibility was accidentally shared online this morning
