SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has cautioned against the government’s planned single taxation regime.
Yesterday, 28 April, the government launched consultations on an updated ‘single online gambling duty’, running for 12 weeks through 21 July.
The new tax treatment looks to revise existing remote gambling duties given the rise in customer engagement with online gambling and its annual generated GGY of £6.9bn.
This would in turn create a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty (RBGD) by merging the three current tax categories of Remote Gaming Duty, General Betting Duty, and Pool Betting Duty.
A similar proposal that sought to increase gambling taxes was initially shot down from the 2024 Autumn Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. However, the HMRC made additional commitments to review the active remote gambling taxation regime by 2026.
BGC responds
Hurst has now shared her opinion on the latest developments, seemingly unhappy with the consequences that a single tax regime will bring to the sector.
According to the BGC CEO, the move will prove “self-defeating” for the government and its long-term growth strategy.
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
“Any potential further increase in taxes on our members, so soon after a whitepaper which cost the sector over a billion pounds in lost revenue, will not raise more money for the Treasury.
“If General Betting Duty is raised to the same level as Remote Gaming Duty under one new tax. It would be catastrophic for Racing’s fragile finances.”
However, the consultations currently don’t mention any specific increase in the tax rate under the new unified regime.
“There are currently different duty rates for RGD, GBD and PBD,” the consultation read. “The government proposes that the new RBGD would harmonise these to a single rate. However, it is beyond the scope of this consultation to determine what that specific rate ought to be.”
Speaking on behalf of BGC members, Hurst warned that an increase in taxes in such a short period after the Gambling Review White Paper – already littered with its own costly-to-implement recommendations – will have the opposite effect of raising money for the Treasury.
“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.”
