Gambling firms backlash after Chancellor hits them with tax rise

Chancellor John Healey has announced a rise in gambling taxes to help fund a package of support for high streets. The chancellor said he will slash taxes on the high street by raising the threshold at which small firms begin paying business rates from £12,000 to £18,000, with some 70,000 businesses excluded altogether. The package of high street discounts will be supplemented by increasing the Machine Games Duty, paid on Category B slot machines in betting shops and adult gaming centres, from 20% to 25%.

Mr Healey added the move would protect pubs and seaside arcades. “To pay for this support for our high streets, I’m raising taxes on gambling - by increasing Machine Games Duty from 20% to 25% for higher-stakes machines, while protecting pubs and seaside arcades,” he said. Read more: What was in the Budget? All of the key points from John Healey's speech Read more: Budget 2026 LIVE: Chancellor unveils £100 energy payment for 20 million households “I’ve made my choice at this Budget: asking a bit more of our banks to support ordinary people, raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street.”

While the increase is lower than the 40 per cent which was feared – and campaigned for in some quarters – it is still expected to have a serious impact on bookmakers and betting shops. That, in turn, will mean the loss of millions of pounds in levy and media rights income for British racing. Betting machines have become a fundamental operation for bookmakers but the hike in tax could result in betting shops becoming unprofitable, leading to closures due to the slimming profit margins and increasing costs.

The Betting and Gaming Council said it was a “deeply damaging decision” from the government, one which makes the “illegal gambling market more attractive to customers”. A statement from chief executive Grainne Hurst read: “This is a deeply damaging decision and a blow to the thousands of workers, businesses and communities who depend on Britain’s regulated betting and gaming industry. “The Chancellor has ignored repeated warnings about the consequences.

At 25 per cent, EY projects almost 9,000 people could lose their jobs and almost 1,000 betting shops and casinos could close or be at serious risk. These are real people and families facing the loss of their income and security, in places where alternative work can be hard to find. “Every betting shop or casino closure means lost livelihoods, more empty premises and another huge blow to our high streets. These venues will not simply be replaced, particularly in places already struggling to attract jobs and investment.

“Higher taxes on the regulated industry also will make the illegal gambling market more attractive to customers, where operators pay no UK tax, contribute nothing to British sport and offer none of the safeguards required of licensed businesses. “The Chancellor has chosen a tax rise that will cost British jobs, close businesses and hollow out high streets, while handing an advantage to illegal operators. The Government cannot ignore the consequences of this decision.”

It is the second successive Budget to raise gambling taxes, following increases to remote gaming duty and online betting duty announced last year. Former chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last November that Remote Gaming Duty would rise from 21% to 40% from April, while General Betting Duty on online wagers is due to increase from 15% to 25% in April 2027. The rise will affect companies including Ladbrokes owner Entain and Evoke, which owns William Hill UK and 888.