Remote Gaming Duty Jump to 40% Leaves Operators Asking What Is Happening

The latest UK budget has pushed the gambling sector into a heated debate, with many insiders asking whether the government has crossed into outright policy madness. The scale of the tax rises looks unlike anything seen across major regulated markets in Europe. In fact, the rate now sits even higher than the level charged in the Netherlands, a country already known for some of the toughest gambling taxes.

Good to Know

• Remote gaming duty jumps from 21 percent to 40 percent next April
• Horse racing and spread betting avoid any new taxes
• Several operators already see sharp drops in share prices

A Budget That Leaves Many Wondering What Is Going On

U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the 2025 budget with a strong focus on raising government revenue. Online gambling became the main target, while horse racing and spread betting walked away untouched. Many insiders now say the imbalance makes little sense and risks distorting the market in ways that could backfire on the government.

Remote gambling duty on online casinos will rise sharply to 40 percent next April. The jump has struck many operators as extreme, placing the United Kingdom at the very top of the European tax range. With the Netherlands sitting below that number, some analysts argue that the United Kingdom may now be testing the limits of what a regulated market can support.

General duty on remote betting will rise to 25 percent from 15 percent in April 2027. Bingo will lose its 10 percent tax entirely in 2026, which many see as an odd contrast to the heavy pressure placed on online casino platforms.

Treasury estimates show the package could generate £1.1bn by 2031. Despite that projection, large parts of the industry argue that the government risks shrinking the legal market and giving illegal operators a direct opening.

In the budget speech, Reeves told Parliament that remote gambling had the “highest levels of harm.” That line played well with the public. A YouGov poll later showed that 82 percent of Britons saw the tax rise as “the right thing to do.”

Industry leaders, meanwhile, reacted with alarm. Many warn of job cuts, higher consumer costs, and a shrinking regulated sector. Before the budget, the British Horseracing Authority and several campaign groups warned that taxing horse betting could have triggered more than 2,700 job losses and a £330 million revenue hit during the first year. That scenario no longer applies, but the larger market shock remains.

Horse racing still draws millions, holding its place as the United Kingdoms second-biggest spectator sport with more than 1,400 races each year. Yet some insiders fear that pressure on the wider gambling ecosystem could spill over anyway.

Financial Markets Show Immediate Concerns

Share prices told their own story soon after the announcement. Publicly listed operators including Evoke Plc, Entain, Flutter Entertainment and others saw drops ranging from 1 percent to 19 percent. Investors looked unsettled, especially after calculating the long-term cost of the 40 percent remote gaming rate.

Industry response grew even louder once companies began issuing statements.

Flurre CEO of UK and Ireland Kevin Harrington said:

“Today’s tax increases are a very disappointing outcome and will have a significant adverse impact on our industry. The Chancellor rightly wants to address harm, but these changes will hand a big win to illegal, unlicensed gambling operators who will become more competitive overnight. These black market operators don’t pay tax and don’t invest in safer gambling. At 40 percent, the UK’s remote gaming duty is now above countries such as the Netherlands, where a recent tax increase saw a rise in illegal gambling and a fall in Government receipts. Despite this impact, I am confident that through both our scale and leading position in the UK, as well as the proactive cost initiatives that we are taking, we are well placed to navigate through today’s changes.”

Many within the sector noted that if the Netherlands saw illegal play rise after a smaller tax jump, the UK could face an even more chaotic shift.

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