There are no changes for in-person gambling or horse racing, while bingo duty is being abolished entirely from April next year.
The Chancellor has announced a steep increase in online gambling tax associated with the “highest levels of harm” across the sector.
Rachel Reeves said she was reforming gambling taxes in response to the rise in online gambling, announcing an increase in remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% and on online betting from 15% to 25%.
There are no changes for in-person gambling or horse racing, while bingo duty is being abolished entirely from April next year.
The Chancellor said: “Remote gaming is associated with the highest levels of harm and so I am increasing remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%, with duty on online betting increasing from 15% to 25%.
“I am making no change to the taxes on in-person gambling or horse racing and I am abolishing bingo duty entirely from April 2026. Taken together, my reforms to gambling tax will raise over £1 billion per year by 2031.”
The reforms are expected to raise an estimated £1.1 billion for the Government by 2029-30.
The Budget announcement comes the day after the gambling regulator released official figures showing the industry made £16.8 billion from consumers in the year to March after paying out any prizes – up 7.3% on the year before.
The Gambling Commission said the latest annual industry statistics, which report on the customer-facing gambling industry in Great Britain, showed the rise in “gross gambling yield” (GGY) was largely driven by online gambling, which had gone up by more than £900 million to an annual figure of £7.8 billion.
Two influential think tanks, the IPPR and SMF (Social Market Foundation), had both recommended that RGD (remote gaming duty), applied to online games of chance and the largest of the duties because it is charged on the fast-growing online sector, should be more than doubled to 50%.
Companies and industry groups have warned that steep increases in levies could push punters on to the black market while threatening jobs and investment, drive consolidation among smaller operators and force them to streamline their businesses or shut down altogether.
