Treasury explains why horserace bets are spared higher betting duty rate
The Treasury has told Parliament that UK horserace betting was excluded from a planned rise in remote gambling duty because operators already pay into the Horserace Betting Levy, creating an effective 25% rate.
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The Treasury, in a written answer to Parliament, said remote bets on UK horseracing will be excluded from an increase in General Betting Duty announced at the Autumn Budget 2025.
Responding to a question from Andrew Rosindell, Reform UK MP for Romford, Treasury minister James Murray said the Budget 2025 package of gambling duty changes is expected to raise over £1 billion a year for public finances. Under the changes, the remote betting duty rate will rise from 15% to 25% from 1 April 2027.
Murray said bets on UK horseracing will remain taxed at the current 15% rate rather than moving to the new 25% rate applied to other remote betting. He said this was because betting operators already contribute 10% towards the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, which he said results in what he called an existing de facto 25% rate for bets on UK horse races.
The Treasury did not set out further criteria used to decide which other sports or bet types might qualify for similar treatment.
Source: UK Parliament written question 29367.
Contains parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.