Gambling Online firms to face steep rise in duties

Online casinos and bookmakers will pay billions of pounds more in tax under a steep rise in duties levied on their takings from British gamblers.

- Rob Davies

In her second budget as chancellor, Rachel Reeves announced duty changes expected to raise an extra £1.1bn a year by 2029-30, raiding a fast-growing sector that made £12.6bn from punters last year.

Shares in UK gambling firms began tumbling even before Reeves announced the change, after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - which assesses the likely impact of tax changes - accidentally published a document confirming that the industry had been singled out for higher taxes.

By the end of the day three major gambling companies, Rank Group, Evoke and Entain, had either revised down profit forecasts or warned of major job losses.