Autumn Budget: Shares tumble as Reeves taxes bookies higher
Shares in British betting and gaming firms, including Entain, William Hill UK, Evoke, and Flutter, fell sharply after Rachel Reeves revealed upcoming increases in gambling duties in her Autumn Budget.
Shares in those and other publicly-listed companies were down between one and 19 per cent by 12:38 on Wednesday.
The forcasted tax changes sent investors reeling, with remote gaming duty set to rise from 21 per cent to 40 per cent from April 2026, bingo duty abolished, and a new 25% general betting duty on remote betting introduced from April 2027.
The measures are expected to raise an estimated £1.1 billion by 2029-30.
Rachel Reeves confirmed the changes in her announcement, after the numbers were shockingly leaked by the OBR ahead of her speech, framing them as a way to ensure operators pay their “fair share” while addressing social concerns around high-risk gambling formats.
“We are taking fair steps to protect consumers and ensure the sector contributes to the public finances,” Reeves said, highlighting the government’s focus on balancing revenue-raising with a regulated, safe industry.
Advocates for tougher regulation argue that online gambling and machine gaming, which carry higher addiction risks, should contribute more to public finances, funding social programmes and offsetting harms.
The British Gaming Council dubbed the moves as “bad for jobs. bad for customers, bad for sports – and bad for safer gambling”.
Its chief executive Grainne Hurst said: “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”.
High stakes for high street and online operators
The OBR warned that behavioural responses, such as operators passing on costs through higher prices, reducing payouts, or restructuring offerings, could cut the expected yield by around a third, with potential substitution to illicit markets further affecting revenue.
Trade bodies have voiced concern over the impact on community-based businesses.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) had previously cautioned: “These proposals risk costing thousands of jobs, pushing players towards unsafe, unregulated markets, and threaten a sector that contributes £6.8bn to the UK economy.”
Similarly, Bacta highlighted that even modest increases in Machine Games Duty could force hundreds of high-street venues, including seaside arcades and adult gaming centres, to close.
Social-policy advocates welcomed measures targeting the most harmful forms of gambling, seeing harmonised online duties and higher rates on risky games as a way to reduce problem gambling while generating revenue.
Yet, aggressive taxation could drive punters offshore, replicating experiences seen in other European countries where black-market activity surged.
With today’s Budget, the Chancellor has signalled her intent to raise revenue from gambling while trying to preserve the regulated sector that supports thousands of jobs and underpins local economies.
The ultimate impact will depend on how operators and consumers respond to the new rates, and whether the legal market can remain robust amid higher duties.