How the UK Budget Has Impacted the Online Gambling Industry

This week, the UK autumn budget presented by the Labour government created discussion regarding proposals for tax changes and other areas of UK spending and cuts.

But how did the budget impact online gambling in the UK?

Online gambling forecasts

Earlier in October, we reported that the government was considering issuing a gambling tax increase. Further suggestions from others indicated that additional tax funds would be raised by a 42% increase in remote gaming duty. This resulted in falling share prices for some online gaming providers.

There were also whisperings of combining the UK gambling tax structure. Currently, different tax rates apply to remote and land-based gaming.

The reality of online gambling

Perhaps silence is a good thing for the gambling industry, as it was notably absent from the budget speech. Although Rachel Reeves confirmed that the Treasury need to raise £40 billion in taxes, there are currently no changes implemented for gambling taxes in the UK.

SBC News reported that the Social Market Foundation (SMF) 'Urged the Treasury to double taxes on all online gambling activities from 21% to 42%, potentially raising £1bn annually.'

However, this change, or anything close to it, is yet to be included in the budget. Therefore, UK gambling taxes remain at 21% for remote gambling and 15%-to-50% for land-based gambling.

Changes may be coming, though, as the Chancellor wrote that next year, changes to consolidating the tax will be reviewed.

Go to our news page for all UK online gambling news and updates.