Taxation of gambling in the UK

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FORTHCOMING CHANGES: At Budget 2025, the government decided not to introduce a single remote betting and gaming duty, as was initially proposed in a consultation earlier in the year, on the basis that remote betting (wagering on real-world events with variable odds) and remote gaming (games of chance) have distinct characteristics and levels of harm associated with them and should therefore be taxed differently. Instead, the government announced that it will:

  1. •

    increase the rate of remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% from 1 April 2026 to reflect the greater harm associated with remote gaming, and

  2. •

    introduce a new 25% rate of GBD for remote betting from 1 April 2027. Remote betting on UK horse racing will be excluded from the new rate, as will any bets placed via self-service betting terminals on licenced premises. These will instead remain chargeable at a rate of 15%

The government also announced that:

  1. •

    bingo duty will be abolished from 1 April 2026

  2. •

    legislation will be introduced to fill a gap in HMRC’s powers to levy penalties for errors in

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