UK LEGAL
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arlier this year, the Government consulted on proposals to consolidate remote gaming duty, general betting duty and pool betting duty into a single tax regime, with the aim of simplifying the taxes paid by remote gambling operators. This approach was rejected, the Government opting instead for targeted tax increases for operators of remote gaming and remote general betting.
The key outcomes announced in the budget were: • Remote gaming duty to increase from 21% to 40% of GGY, from 1 April 2026,
• General betting duty at 25% of GGY to apply to remote general betting from 1 April 2027, an increase from the currently applicable rate of 15%,
• Remote betting on horse racing to remain taxed at 15% of GGY,
• Spread betting and pool betting remain at their current duty rates,
• Bingo duty (applicable to premises-based providers only) to be abolished from 1 April 2026 (currently 10% of GGY),
• Other land-based duties (including SSBTs) remain at their current levels,
• £26m in additional funding for the Gambling Commission to tackle the black market.
Increased tax rates create significant challenges for remote operators
The budget announced by the UK Government on 26 November 2025 marks a pivotal moment for the gambling industry. Northridge Law’s Melanie Ellis reports.
24 DECEMBER 2025
HARM REDUCTION? Harm reduction did not feature in the questions raised in the original consultation, but nevertheless some respondents to the consultation pointed to the differing rates of harm associated with different activities. The Government’s consultation response states that “stakeholders consider remote gaming more harmful than remote betting” and that the intention of the higher tax rate introduced for remote gaming is “to disincentivise gambling companies from pushing consumers towards those more harmful products.”
However, the intention to link tax rates to reported harms for different activities is not applied consistently. The Gambling Commission’s 2024 GSGB data found rates of PGSI 8+ scores almost equivalent between those betting on sports and racing online (9.4%) and those taking part in bingo at a venue (9%). However, the former activity will be subject to a duty rate of 25% (for betting on sports) with premises-based bingo exempt from duty entirely.
Betting on football pools was found to have a PGSI 8+ rate of 23.3% in the Commission’s survey, more than double that found for betting on sports and racing online, and yet online pool betting remains subject to the 15% duty rate.
It may be that the Government has little faith in the Gambling Commission’s data, but its
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