Gambling duty changes
Published 26 November 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-gambling-duties/gambling-duty-changes
Who is likely to be affected
Remote gaming providers who are liable to account for Remote Gaming Duty. Remote Gaming Duty applies to gaming over the internet, telephone, by television, radio, or any other electronic communications or other technology for facilitating communication.
Gambling operators who provide remote betting and are liable to account for General Betting Duty. General Betting Duty is charged on bets made with a bookmaker in UK premises or remotely (for example online) by a person in the UK regardless of where in the world the bookmaker is located.
Businesses who provide bingo in a UK licensed premises.
General description of the measure
Remote Gaming Duty
The rate of Remote Gaming Duty will be increased from 21% to 40% from 1 April 2026.
General Betting Duty
A new rate of General Betting Duty will be introduced for general bets made remotely (for example online) from 1 April 2027. The remote rate of 25% will apply to all remote betting other than remote bets on UK horseracing which will remain unchanged, in line with land based betting, in recognition that operators contribute 10% towards the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, resulting in an existing de-facto 25% rate for bets on UK horse races. Bets placed via self-service betting terminals on licenced betting premises will not be treated as being placed remotely and will remain subject to the 15% rate for general bets. The General Betting Duty rates for general bets made in UK premises, horse and dog pool bets, financial spread bets and non-financial spread bets remain unchanged.
Bingo Duty
Bingo duty will be abolished with effect from 1 April 2026.
Penalties
The penalty provisions for General Betting Duty, Remote Gaming Duty and Pool Betting Duty will be updated to ensure that the current legislation reflects the provisions of Finance Act 2014.
Policy objective
Increasing gambling duties will raise over £1 billion per year to support the public finances and form part of our ambition to create a fair, modern and sustainable tax system.
The government has targeted the biggest increase in tax on remote gaming (for example online slots and casino games), which is generally considered to have lower operating costs and to be more harmful than other forms of gambling. The intention of the Remote Gaming Duty rate increase is to disincentivise gambling companies from pushing consumers towards what are considered more harmful products.
The government has sought to balance evidence and views that remote betting is not as harmful as remote gaming, whilst also recognising the growth in online betting and its lower costs compared to retail operations. The government will therefore implement a lower tax rise for remote betting than remote gaming, while keeping General Betting Duty at 15%. Remote bets on UK horseracing will remain unchanged, in line with land based betting, in recognition that operators contribute 10% towards the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, resulting in an existing de-facto 25% rate for bets on UK horse races.
The repeal of Bingo Duty supports lower risk activities and bingo clubs and simplifies the tax system by removing one of 7 gambling duties.
The changes to the wording of the Finance Act 2007 will provide clarity in relation to the penalty regimes that apply for General Betting Duty, Remote Gaming Duty and Pool Betting Duty.
Background to the measure
At Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced its intention to consult on reforms to the tax treatment of remote gambling, aiming to modernise and simplify the tax system. The consultation ran from 23 April to 21 July 2025. It sought views on introducing a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty covering all remote betting and gaming activities, including online casinos, bingo, slots and sports betting.
The government has carefully considered all responses to the consultation as well as views shared by stakeholders during extensive engagement over the summer and in the lead up to the Budget. The government heard representations that remote betting and remote gaming are different in terms of costs and harms and should therefore not be subject to a single duty at the same rate. Consequently, the government will not proceed with introducing a Remote Betting and Gaming Duty rate, and will instead introduce changes that retain a differential between rates on remote betting and gaming duties.
Detailed proposal
Operative dates
Remote Gaming Duty
The new duty rate of 40% will apply for accounting periods that begin on or after 1 April 2026 and will be chargeable on profits on remote gaming from that date onwards. Where this date falls part-way through an accounting period, the increased rate will be charged only on the profits that arise between 1 April 2026 and the end of that accounting period.
General Betting Duty
The new duty rate of 25% for remote betting will be chargeable on profits from remote betting from 1 April 2027 onwards. Remote betting on UK horse racing will be excluded from the new duty rate, as will any bets placed via self-service betting terminals on licenced premises, and these will instead remain chargeable at a rate of 15%.
Bingo Duty
Finance Bill 2025-26 will repeal Bingo Duty with effect from 1 April 2026.
Current law
General Betting Duty
General Betting Duty legislation is contained in the Finance Act 2014 (Part 3, Chapter 1).
Remote Gaming Duty
Remote Gaming Duty legislation is contained in the Finance Act 2014 (Part 3, Chapter 3).
Bingo Duty
Bingo Duty legislation is contained in sections 17 to 20C and schedule 3 of the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981 and the Bingo Duty Regulations 2003.
Penalties
The penalty provisions are contained in Schedule 24 of Finance Act 2014.
Proposed revisions
Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2025-26 that:
- amends section 155(3) of Finance Act 2014. The Remote Gaming Duty rate will be amended to reflect the increase from 21% to 40%
- adds new sections to Part 3, Chapter 1 of Finance Act 2014 to introduce the new remote betting duty rate of 25%
- repeals Bingo Duty, this repeal will encompass all relevant provisions relating to Bingo Duty, including sections 17 to 20C and Schedule 3 of the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981, as well as the Bingo Duty Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2503) in their entirety — the associated penalty regime in both primary and secondary legislation will also be repealed, along with any powers linked to the administration or enforcement of Bingo Duty — savings provisions will be put in place to allow the use of such powers in relation to accounting periods that predate the repeal
- makes consequential amendments to legislation that mentions Bingo Duty in order to ensure that bingo does not become liable to other duties or taxes as a result of the repeal
- updates the wording of Schedule 24 of Finance Act 2007 to reflect the provisions of the Finance Act 2014 instead of the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981, in relation to General Betting Duty, Remote Gaming Duty and Pool Betting Duty
Summary of impacts
Exchequer impact (£ million)
| 2025 to 2026 | 2026 to 2027 | 2027 to 2028 | 2028 to 2029 | 2029 to 2030 | 2030 to 2031 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | +810 | +1065 | +1100 | +1135 | +1155 |
These figures are set out in Table 4.1 of Budget 2025 and have been certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility. More details can be found in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2025.
Macroeconomic impact
This measure is not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impacts.
Impact on individuals, households and families
This measure will impact individuals if the duty rate increase is passed on to them through a negative change in betting odds or return to player. In response, some individuals could choose to gamble less, switch to alternative gambling activities or gamble through the illegal gambling market.
This measure is not expected to impact on family formation, stability or breakdown.
HMRC customer experience is expected to remain broadly the same as this measure does not alter how individuals interact with HMRC.
Equalities impacts
While this measure directly affects businesses, there may be indirect impacts to individuals who gamble if there is a negative change in betting odds. If a protected group is overrepresented in the gambling population, then it will be disproportionately impacted.
There were no data available on the prevalence of different protected groups in the gambling population compared to the general UK adult population, therefore HMRC cannot make an assessment of whether there are disproportionate impacts on those with shared protected characteristics. However, from data on the likelihood of gambling, it is estimated that males are slightly more likely to gamble than females, though this varies with the type of gambling. Males are estimated to be more likely to participate in online gambling activities such as online betting, slots, and casino games, whereas females are estimated to be more likely to participate in online bingo.
The age group estimated to be most likely to gamble was 55 to 64, whereas the age group least likely to gamble was 18 to 24. However, online gambling is estimated to be the most common among the 25 to 34 age group. In addition, young people from a White ethnic background were more likely to be identified as ‘non-problem’ gamblers than those from an ethnic minority background. There were no data available on the likelihood of gambling in other protected groups.
Administrative impact on business including civil society organisations
This measure is expected overall to have a significant administrative impact on businesses providing gambling services in the UK.
Abolition of Bingo Duty is expected to have an impact on 134 businesses that will no longer be required to pay Bingo Duty or submit Bingo Duty returns. There will be a negligible one-off cost to these businesses to familiarise themselves with the new rules. There are not expected to be any continuing costs but there will be significant continuing savings as businesses will no longer have to submit Bingo Duty returns. These administrative savings are estimated to be £0.2 million per year.
The increase in the Remote Gaming Duty rate and the introduction of a remote betting rate of 25% within General Betting Duty are expected to have an impact on around 160 business that provide remote betting to UK customers, 95 business that provide remote gaming to UK customers and 55 businesses that provide remote betting and gaming to UK customers. These businesses will see an increase to their duty bills. One-off costs include familiarisation with the changes and an initial updating of systems to reflect the new tax rate for Remote Gaming Duty and changes to systems to apply the new General Betting Duty rate for remote bets. It is not expected that there will be any continuing administrative costs.
These increases will impact on the revenue of gaming and betting companies. How they respond will be a matter for these businesses.
Estimated one-off administrative impact on businesses (£ million)
| One-off impact | £ million |
|---|---|
| Costs | Negligible |
| Savings | — |
Estimated continuing impact on administrative burden (£ million)
| Continuing average annual impact | £ million |
|---|---|
| Costs | Negligible |
| Savings | 0.2 |
| Net impact on annual administrative burden | -0.2 |
Customer experience is expected to remain broadly the same as this measure doesn’t alter how businesses interact with HMRC.
There is expected to be no impact on civil society organisations.
Operational impact (£ million) (HMRC or other)
The changes to the rate of Remote Gaming Duty will have no operational impact on HMRC.
Adding a new remote betting rate into General Betting Duty will require changes to some IT systems at an estimated cost to HMRC of up to £1.9 million. Bingo Duty repeal will also require changes to IT systems at an estimated cost of up to £650,000. Operational resource impacts are still being assessed.
Other impacts
Other impacts have been considered and none have been identified
Monitoring and evaluation
Consideration will be given to monitoring or evaluating the expected exchequer impacts of the policy after 2 years of monitoring data have been analysed and collected
Further advice
If you have any questions about this change, contact John Waller on Telephone 03000 588063 or email john.c.waller@hmrc.gov.uk.