The UK government is preparing a sweeping overhaul of gambling taxes in its Autumn Budget 2025, which could shake up one of the country’s most profitable yet controversial industries.
Chancellor Rachael Reeves has been steadily increasing pressure on gambling operators, with reports from the Office for Budget Responsibility suggesting the new measures could raise around £4 billion ($5 billion) in revenue.
What gambling measures are being proposed in the Autumn Budget 2025?
UK gambling companies are bracing for a major shake-up. Reeves has hinted that General Betting Duty on sports betting, online or in betting shops, excluding horse racing, would rise from 15% to as high as 30%, while online slot taxes might climb from 20% to 50%. She says the goal is to ensure that gambling firms “pay their fair share.”
‘I do think there’s a case for gambling firms to pay more,’ said the chancellor when asked if she would consider increasing the taxes gambling firms pay
‘They should pay their fair share of taxes, and we’ll make sure that that happens’ pic.twitter.com/iNPyki9EVN
— ITVPolitics (@ITVNewsPolitics) September 29, 2025
What has led to this potential increase?
The 2024 Budget, submitted by Reeves, the first from her party in over fifteen years, avoided hitting gambling firms in their pocket. Instead, it laid the path for reform, with lobbyists attempting to dissuade members of the UK parliament who were spearheading these proposed changes.
In the lead-up to the 2024 budget, UK gambling companies saw their shares take a hit, cutting more than £2 billion from the value of some of the biggest names in the industry. Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, dropped 7%; Evoke, the parent company of 888, slid 12%; and Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, was down 5.7%. These market reactions highlighted investor anxiety ahead of the last year’s budget. Even so, leaders from the major betting brands have been speaking out more openly as the 2025 budget approaches.
A proposed tax increase could hit bookmakers hard, raising their rate from 15% to 21% to match what online casinos and gaming sites pay. Industry insiders warn the move could be devastating for sports like horse racing.
The Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) published a statement to the Treasury, saying “Ministers have been clear in public and in parliament that they would be meeting with the relevant stakeholders as part of the consultation on tax harmonisation proposals. That includes the BGC, which represents companies employing over 100,000 people and a sector enjoyed safely by millions of customers each month.”
A key influence in the current debate is a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which linked gambling-related harm to higher child poverty rates.
Gordon Brown, who held the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, is a leading figure with the IPPR, and he has suggested the £4 billion ($5 billion) void could be filled by the gambling reform and tax increases.
Speaking to the Guardian in August, he said: “Time to tax the highly profitable gambling industry to pay for action on child poverty. Gambling will not build a Britain for the future, but children free of poverty will.”
Time to tax the highly profitable gambling industry to pay for action on child poverty.
Gambling will not build a Britain for the future but children free of poverty will.
— Gordon Brown (@GordonBrown) August 6, 2025
In the wake of Brown and the IPPR’s analysis and comment, 101 Labour MPs signed a letter to reform gambling, with taxation increases the key desirable to reduce child poverty.
The ministers involved shone the light on the IPPR research saying that if gambling was reformed in the United Kingdom, 500,000 children would be “lifted out of poverty.”
Industry response from gambling operators over Autumn Budget 2025 proposals
BGC chief executive Grainne Hurst was less than complimentary of Brown’s decision to target gambling firms, seeing it as hypocritical as the former Chancellor had been integral to the reform process previously.
“Long since hailed as a masterstroke, his interventions raised more tax, secured more jobs, and created one of this country’s global business success stories,” said Hurst.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has been active in addressing the issue of gambling reform in the United Kingdom at every party conference for the biggest parliamentary groups.
BHA Chief Executive Brant Dunshea warned that higher taxes could have a “catastrophic” impact on British racing and related jobs.
He said the sport is “already in a precarious financial position and research has shown that a tax rise on racing could be catastrophic,” for jobs related to the hospitality, racing and retail environment.
UK job losses could be a result of these tax increases
William Hill, owned by Evoke plc under 888 Holdings, was vocal about the possibility that reform and incoming taxation hikes could have on their physical retail locations.
The company’s share value has dropped by 30% across the financial year, and it publicly stated that a possible 200 locations would close, causing 1,500 job losses.
Betfred’s co-founder Fred Done called the proposed tax increases the greatest threat the gambling sector has seen in over half a decade.
He spoke of the perils that physical locations would face in a BBC interview, saying, “We would have to close it down. I’m talking job losses. We’re talking probably 7,500.”
‘In job losses we’re talking probably 7,500’
Fred Done, who set up Betfred in 1967 with his brother, has warned all the firm’s 1,287 shops could disappear from the high street if Chancellor Rachel Reeves hikes taxes on gambling firms pic.twitter.com/xGkg7ttLeu
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 19, 2025
As the Autumn Budget approaches on November 26, 2025, Labour faces a key test of its economic strategy. The planned gambling tax rises could redefine the line between public welfare and private enterprise and determine whether the party’s promise of “fair growth” can withstand fiscal reality.
Featured image: Canva
