The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has lambasted a consultation on “the tax treatment of remote gambling” to be applied to UK licences, describing the potential changes as “utterly self-defeating”.
The UK government is seeking opinions from stakeholders on a proposal to merge the three existing tax categories – Remote Gaming Duty, General Betting Duty and Pool Betting Duty – into a single standard known as the Remote Betting and Gaming Duty (RBGD).
This is in response to the rise of the remote gambling industry as the dominant form of gambling participation, currently generating £6.9bn in gross gambling yield (GGY) annually and enjoying a 44% market share.
In comparison, the land-based sector is now worth £4.6bn per year and enjoys a 30% market share.
James Murray MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, commented: “The tax system needs to keep pace with the developments and innovation that have seen the UK-facing remote gambling sector change significantly in recent years. The three-tax system needs to adapt to reflect the dynamic and expanding nature of the sector.
“A single duty will provide tax certainty and increase simplification for remote gambling.”
Tax restructure
The consultation will run for 12 weeks, closing at midnight on 21 July 2025, with stakeholders invited to submit responses via an online form.
It will not consider feedback on the rate of tax applied to the RBGD, prioritising technical feedback on its alignment and applicability.
The current structure taxes Remote Gaming Duty (covering online slots, games, poker and bingo) at 21% of gross profits, charged on a place of consumption (POC) basis.
HMRC applies a three-tier charge for General Betting Duty: 15% for fixed-odds bets, 10% for sports spread bets and 3% for financial spread bets.
Pool Betting is taxed at 15% of gross profits, a charge solely applied to sports pools, as HMRC excludes charges on horse racing and greyhound pools.
The new system will apply a single tax rate using the POC principle, aligning all charges under a unified format to simplify Remote Gambling tax duties for HMRC and related parties.
Since 2014, all remote gambling has been taxed on a POC basis — if the customer is in the UK, the operator must pay UK gambling taxes, regardless of the business’s preferred domicile.
Catastrophic consequences
In a response posted on X, the BGC has strongly condemned the proposed changes to the UK’s taxation framework, arguing that the potential for tax rises would have “catastrophic” consequences for sectors such as horse racing and lead to a “spiral of decline”.
Statement from our CEO Grainne Hurst following the launch of HM Treasury's consultation 'The Tax Treatment of Remote Gambling'. pic.twitter.com/85RMlxunAb
— Betting and Gaming Council (@BetGameCouncil) April 29, 2025
Although the Government has not released details on the potential tax rate of the RBGD, bringing the gaming tax under one unified tax rate would likely lead to a tax increase for certain sectors, for example, if the General Betting Duty is brought in line with the Remote Gaming Duty rate of 21%.
Grainne Hurst, CEO of the BGC, said: “Raising taxes further now on regulated betting and gaming through a new single tax would be utterly self-defeating for the Government, while making a mockery of their growth strategy.
“BGC members contribute £6.8bn to the economy, generate £4bn in tax while supporting 109,000 jobs, but this flawed approach can only lead to a spiral of decline. The Government must listen to business and sport and not drive growth, investment and jobs out of one of the UK’s few global business success stories.”
Hurst also argued that making gaming products more expensive for UK customers will drive players to the unregulated black market, which does not contribute to taxes or have safer gambling protections.
