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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has said that the new budget would cause thousands of job losses across the entire betting and gaming industry.

“The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget has been pitched as good news for horse racing, but in reality it spells thousands of job losses right across the entire betting and gaming industry and represents a major setback not only for that sector but for all the sports our industry supports,” Grainne Hurst, chief executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, said.

“Racing has seemingly been protected from higher betting duties. It sounds like a win, but anyone who understands how the sector operates knows that isn’t true. This exemption is cosmetic. Beneath the surface, this Budget delivers a devastating blow to the very ecosystem that racing relies on.

“What the Chancellor has actually done is impose one of the largest tax hikes on any industry in modern times. Online gaming duty will soar from 21% to 40% in 2026 – a 90% increase. Sports betting duty will rise from 15% to 25% the following year, up nearly 67%. The Treasury expects £1.1 billion a year in additional tax by 2029. These are not harmless revenue raisers; they will fundamentally reshape the market, and not for the better.

“Steep tax rises layered on top of major new regulation will not make gambling safer. They will do the opposite – pushing ordinary players out of the regulated sector, which protects consumers, and into the illegal, unsafe and highly harmful black market, where none of those safeguards exist. This is particularly worrying given that gambling harm in the UK remains low at 0.4%, according to both the NHS Health Survey and the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Driving customers into an unregulated black market risks this.

“Even the Treasury predicts a £500m increase in unlicensed activity and has allocated just £26m to counter it. That sum is a drop in the ocean given the scale of the threat, which this very Budget will accelerate.”

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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has warned that proposed new tax measures for the UK gambling industry could lead to a significant rise in harmful illegal gambling.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) admitted that the tax plans will reduce projected yield by around one-third, including £500 million lost by 2029-30 as consumers switch away from the regulated sector and towards the black market.

The OBR also states that around 90% of the duty increases will be passed on to consumers through higher prices or reduced payouts, making regulated products less attractive. It warns this will distort the market and drive more customers towards the illegal black market, where there are no protections, no tax contributions and no safer gambling checks.

Despite these warnings, the Government continues to claim the measures will raise £1.1 billion, a figure that industry experts, independent analysts including EY, and the BGC believe will not be achieved.

Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive of the Betting and Gaming Council, said: “The Government’s own figures show these tax plans will cause significant damage. Industry analysis based on modelling from EY finds that nearly 17,000 high-tech jobs will be lost across online betting and gaming, with over £6 billion in stakes diverted to the black market – a 140% increase in its size.

“These proposals also threaten shop closures, further job losses and a less competitive online market, meaning lower, not higher, long-term tax revenues. They also push more customers to the black market, where there are no protections, no taxes and no safeguards.”

The regulated betting and gaming sector currently contributes £6.8 billion to the UK economy, supports over 109,000 jobs, and provides £4 billion in taxes, including vital funding for racing, sport and tourism. But further tax rises threaten to weaken one of the UK’s most internationally competitive digital industries at a time when the illegal market is expanding rapidly.

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Betting and Gaming Council CEO, Grainne Hurst, said: “Massive tax increases for online betting and gaming announced in the Budget make them among the highest in the world, and are a devastating hammer blow to tens of thousands of people working in the industry across the UK, and millions of customers who enjoy a bet.

“Regulated betting and gaming is one of the UK’s few globally successful sectors, generating £6.8bn for the economy, contributing over £4bn in tax and supporting 109,000 jobs, while delivering vital funding for British sport.

“While we welcome the decision not to raise land-based duties and to scrap bingo duty – these excessive online tax increases will undermine jobs, investment and growth across the UK.

“The Government’s Budget is a massive win for the incredibly harmful, unsafe, unregulated gambling black market, which pays no tax and offers none of the protections that exist in the regulated sector.

“These decisions are bad for jobs, bad for customers, bad for sports – and bad for safer gambling.”

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