British gambling firms have lost more than £4 billion in value as fears increase of a tax raid on the industry in the 2025 Autumn Budget.
Flutter, owner of three of the biggest betting sites in the UK – Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet – shed more than £4.2 billion in market value on Friday following reports from The Guardian that a tax rise is almost guaranteed.
The UK Treasury wants to hike gambling taxes to fix holes in public finances, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves tasked with raising up to £30 billion without increasing income tax, VAT or employee national insurance.
Tax Harmonisation Widely Expected To Be Introduced In Autumn Budget
A combination of poor economic figures and U-turns on welfare and winter fuel payments means Reeves could look towards gambling tax harmonisation for extra cash.
In April the government announced a proposal to bring all online gambling into a single tax to be called remote betting and gaming duty (RBGD) which the British Horseracing Authority believe could cost the sport as much as £160 million.
Gambling is currently taxed in two separate duties, a general duty that covers racing and pool betting taxed at 15% of gross profits and a remote gaming duty that includes casino games like roulette, levied at 21%.
A flat tax rate of at least 21% is expected to be introduced. Earlier this month, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated raising taxes on the ‘undertaxed’ gambling industry is the most cost-effective way to fight social poverty.
A YouGov survey commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council revealed 28% of gamblers in the UK could head for the black market if plans for harmonisation are made official.
Traffic to offshore sportsbooks could be on the rise in the near future. Regulated operators would have to withdraw concessions and make prices less competitive to maintain their profit margin.
A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank claimed the government could raise as much as £3.2 billion by reforming gambling tax.
It believes hiking taxes on online casinos and slot machines could generate enough revenue to fund scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
