Six major British betting and gaming operators have asked Chancellor John Healey to rule out further gambling-tax rises in next month’s Budget, warning that an increase in Machine Games Duty could deepen closures and job losses across the sector.
The letter, published by the Betting and Gaming Council, was signed by the chief executives of Entain, Flutter UK & Ireland, bet365, Bally’s Corporation, evoke and Betfred. It also calls on the government to suspend the planned General Betting Duty rise, from 15% to 25%, due in April 2027 until the effects of recently adopted measures have been assessed.
The companies want ministers to abandon a potential doubling of Machine Games Duty on Category B machines, from 20% to 40%. The Treasury had been considering the change for the autumn Budget, while the increase in Remote Gaming Duty took effect in April.
The BGC said more than 600 betting shops had closed since the 2025 Budget, while 10,250 online and retail jobs had either been lost or announced for redundancy. It cited closures by Betfred and William Hill, Paddy Power shops under review, and 300 planned job cuts at bet365’s Stoke-on-Trent site.
As we reported in August, the BGC had already attributed hundreds of high-street shop closures and thousands of job losses to the sector’s rising tax and regulatory costs. Gambling Commission data cited by the council show that the number of licensed betting shops in Great Britain has declined by about 38% since 2015.
The council’s case rests in part on EY analysis, which estimates that a 40% Machine Games Duty rate could lead to between 690 and 1,470 additional betting-shop closures, 28 to 34 casino closures, and 11,600 to 15,900 job losses. The analysis projected a net Exchequer loss of up to £124 million because closed businesses would no longer pay tax, and estimated that horseracing could lose at least £40 million in levy and media-rights payments.
The Social Market Foundation proposed raising Machine Games Duty to 40% and estimated that the change could raise £275 million to £460 million annually, on top of roughly £610 million collected in the previous year.
Grainne Hurst, the BGC’s chief executive, said the industry was already dealing with the near-doubling of Remote Gaming Duty. “You cannot tax businesses that have closed,” she said, arguing that further increases risked reducing investment and employment without raising more money for the Treasury.
