I've got some indirect investments in the crypto gambling space, and it's booming.
I think you have two factors. The younger generation is more comfortable with Crypto. Much tougher legislation is forcing people how can't bet elsewhere to explore the space and both are snowballing adoption.
New gambling tax in the next budget
AI Summary of the (leaked) OBR report
Headline Summary:
The government’s latest Budget hits online gaming and non-racing sports betting with major tax rises — Remote Gaming Duty jumps from 21% to 40% and a new 25% betting duty arrives in 2027. But horse racing has been spared: its 15% duty stays unchanged after strong industry lobbying.
**Summary of the latest UK gambling tax changes (from November 2025 Budget & OBR Report)**
The government has announced significant tax reforms across the gambling sector, due to take effect from April 2026 and April 2027. These are the biggest changes to gambling duties in years and are expected to raise about £1.1 billion annually by 2029-30.
**Main points:**
• **Remote Gaming Duty (RGD)** will rise sharply from 21% to 40% from April 2026.
This affects online casino and gaming operators (not betting exchanges).
• **General Betting Duty (GBD)** will see a new higher 25% rate from April 2027,
but **horse-racing bets will stay at the current 15% rate**.
That means racing has been spared from the broader tax hike hitting other online sports betting.
• **Bingo Duty** (currently 10%) will be abolished completely from April 2026.
• **Casino Gaming Duty bands** will be frozen for 2026-27, then uprated with inflation afterwards.
**Fiscal impact:**
• Gambling duties are forecast to increase from roughly £4 billion in 2025-26 to £6 billion by 2030-31.
• The OBR expects operators to pass on about 90% of the higher tax costs to customers through worse odds or higher margins, reducing consumer spend and turnover.
• After these behavioural effects, the Treasury still expects around £1.1 billion extra revenue a year.
**Horse-racing:**
• The government initially considered harmonising all online gambling taxes into a single higher rate, which would have raised duty on horse-racing bets from 15% to 21%+.
• Following lobbying from the racing industry and the #AxeTheRacingTax campaign, racing was exempted.
• This is viewed as a significant win for the sport, as a higher duty could have cost racing tens of millions annually through reduced bookmaker contributions and prize money.
**In short:**
From 2026, online gaming and non-racing sports betting will be heavily taxed, while horse-racing betting remains on its current duty structure at 15%. The wider gambling sector faces a big increase in fiscal pressure, but racing itself has escaped the rise — at least for now.
Headline Summary:
The government’s latest Budget hits online gaming and non-racing sports betting with major tax rises — Remote Gaming Duty jumps from 21% to 40% and a new 25% betting duty arrives in 2027. But horse racing has been spared: its 15% duty stays unchanged after strong industry lobbying.
**Summary of the latest UK gambling tax changes (from November 2025 Budget & OBR Report)**
The government has announced significant tax reforms across the gambling sector, due to take effect from April 2026 and April 2027. These are the biggest changes to gambling duties in years and are expected to raise about £1.1 billion annually by 2029-30.
**Main points:**
• **Remote Gaming Duty (RGD)** will rise sharply from 21% to 40% from April 2026.
This affects online casino and gaming operators (not betting exchanges).
• **General Betting Duty (GBD)** will see a new higher 25% rate from April 2027,
but **horse-racing bets will stay at the current 15% rate**.
That means racing has been spared from the broader tax hike hitting other online sports betting.
• **Bingo Duty** (currently 10%) will be abolished completely from April 2026.
• **Casino Gaming Duty bands** will be frozen for 2026-27, then uprated with inflation afterwards.
**Fiscal impact:**
• Gambling duties are forecast to increase from roughly £4 billion in 2025-26 to £6 billion by 2030-31.
• The OBR expects operators to pass on about 90% of the higher tax costs to customers through worse odds or higher margins, reducing consumer spend and turnover.
• After these behavioural effects, the Treasury still expects around £1.1 billion extra revenue a year.
**Horse-racing:**
• The government initially considered harmonising all online gambling taxes into a single higher rate, which would have raised duty on horse-racing bets from 15% to 21%+.
• Following lobbying from the racing industry and the #AxeTheRacingTax campaign, racing was exempted.
• This is viewed as a significant win for the sport, as a higher duty could have cost racing tens of millions annually through reduced bookmaker contributions and prize money.
**In short:**
From 2026, online gaming and non-racing sports betting will be heavily taxed, while horse-racing betting remains on its current duty structure at 15%. The wider gambling sector faces a big increase in fiscal pressure, but racing itself has escaped the rise — at least for now.
I wonder if Fred will close any/all of his shops?
In my area, since 2012 about 50% of the betting shops have closed, some of which were due to the merger of Coral and Ladbrokes, but the trend is certainly downwards and this should encourage more and more people to use the exchanges.
In my area, since 2012 about 50% of the betting shops have closed, some of which were due to the merger of Coral and Ladbrokes, but the trend is certainly downwards and this should encourage more and more people to use the exchanges.
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jamesedwards
- Posts: 4926
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:16 pm
Good news for horse racing. Let's hope it results in renewed focus and investment from bookmakers.
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jamesedwards
- Posts: 4926
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:16 pm
Sounds like the AI summary was spot on.
Unfortunately Mrs Reeves coincided the announcement of gambling tax changes with the closing stages of the 13:20 from Market Rasen. Not good planning, that.
Unfortunately Mrs Reeves coincided the announcement of gambling tax changes with the closing stages of the 13:20 from Market Rasen. Not good planning, that.
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wearthefoxhat
- Posts: 3618
- Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:55 am
jamesedwards wrote: ↑Wed Nov 26, 2025 1:28 pmSounds like the AI summary was spot on.
Unfortunately Mrs Reeves coincided the announcement of gambling tax changes with the closing stages of the 13:20 from Market Rasen. Not good planning, that.
Yep, she could of cut her speech short as the details were already released by the OBR and everyone knew what was in the budget an hour beforehand.
OBR = "Oh, Budget Revealed"
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TupleVision
- Posts: 139
- Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2025 12:19 pm
I'm still none the wiser. Does this impact the exchange for sports betting in any way? Not that it matters to me right now, I'm nowhere near having to scale anything and have a full time job but should I finally find an edge in the market somewhere will this bugger things up, if so I'll probably call it quits nowEuler wrote: ↑Wed Nov 26, 2025 12:55 pmAI Summary of the (leaked) OBR report
Headline Summary:
The government’s latest Budget hits online gaming and non-racing sports betting with major tax rises — Remote Gaming Duty jumps from 21% to 40% and a new 25% betting duty arrives in 2027. But horse racing has been spared: its 15% duty stays unchanged after strong industry lobbying.
**Summary of the latest UK gambling tax changes (from November 2025 Budget & OBR Report)**
The government has announced significant tax reforms across the gambling sector, due to take effect from April 2026 and April 2027. These are the biggest changes to gambling duties in years and are expected to raise about £1.1 billion annually by 2029-30.
**Main points:**
• **Remote Gaming Duty (RGD)** will rise sharply from 21% to 40% from April 2026.
This affects online casino and gaming operators (not betting exchanges).
• **General Betting Duty (GBD)** will see a new higher 25% rate from April 2027,
but **horse-racing bets will stay at the current 15% rate**.
That means racing has been spared from the broader tax hike hitting other online sports betting.
• **Bingo Duty** (currently 10%) will be abolished completely from April 2026.
• **Casino Gaming Duty bands** will be frozen for 2026-27, then uprated with inflation afterwards.
**Fiscal impact:**
• Gambling duties are forecast to increase from roughly £4 billion in 2025-26 to £6 billion by 2030-31.
• The OBR expects operators to pass on about 90% of the higher tax costs to customers through worse odds or higher margins, reducing consumer spend and turnover.
• After these behavioural effects, the Treasury still expects around £1.1 billion extra revenue a year.
**Horse-racing:**
• The government initially considered harmonising all online gambling taxes into a single higher rate, which would have raised duty on horse-racing bets from 15% to 21%+.
• Following lobbying from the racing industry and the #AxeTheRacingTax campaign, racing was exempted.
• This is viewed as a significant win for the sport, as a higher duty could have cost racing tens of millions annually through reduced bookmaker contributions and prize money.
**In short:**
From 2026, online gaming and non-racing sports betting will be heavily taxed, while horse-racing betting remains on its current duty structure at 15%. The wider gambling sector faces a big increase in fiscal pressure, but racing itself has escaped the rise — at least for now.
