ATG boss says Sweden should follow UK’s gambling tax reforms
Hasse Lord Skarplöth has hailed the “courageous” decision to exempt horse racing betting from the rise in UK gambling taxes.
Sweden.- Hasse Lord Skarplöth, chief executive of Swedish horse racing betting operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG), has urged the Sweden government to take heed of the UK gambling tax reforms announced last week.
In the Autumn Budget, UK chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that Remote Gaming Duty for online casino gambling will rise from 21 to 40 per cent from April 2026, and remote general betting duty from 15 to 25 per cent from April 2027. However, horse racing betting has been made exempt from any change in the tax rise.
This is a distinction that Skarplöth has been calling for in Sweden ever since Swedish gambling tax was increased to 22 per cent from July 2024. In Sweden, the tax rise was applied indiscriminately to all forms of gambling, which Skarplöth has deemed unfair, arguing that online casinos are statistically associated with greater harm while horse racing betting sustains a wider industry.
He sees the UK’s approach as a light to follow, suggesting that the new tax policy takes account of the varying “risk assessment and social benefit” of different verticals. He’s taken the opportunity to reiterate his call for tax on horse racing betting in Sweden to be cut to 18 per cent, while he believes the on online casinos should be raised to 26 per cent as “financial compensation”.
“The UK has understood that gambling policy cannot be handled with a sledgehammer. It requires precision,” Skarplöth said. “The motive was as clear as it was politically courageous: horse racing not only finances gambling, but an entire industry. Online casinos do not.
“In the UK, the tax burden is directed where the problems are greatest – to fast-moving online games with a high risk of gambling problems and low, if not non-existent, contribution to society.
“Horse gambling, on the other hand, is seen as part of a wider ecosystem: breeders, trainers, tracks, jobs, events and a living cultural heritage. The UK government has concluded that if you tax the horse industry to pieces, you are biting your own tail.”
The Swedish horse racing sector comprises around 350,000 horses and supports almost 40,000 jobs, Skarplöth says. In his latest blog, he warns that Sweden’s gambling tax increase has cut ATG’s contribution to industry by SEK200m ($18.4m) per year.
“The Swedish government is faced with the same choice as the British,” he wrote. “Either we continue to pretend that all forms of gambling are equivalent – or we tax according to actual risk and benefit.
“A return to a tax on horse betting of 18 per cent would strengthen consumer protection and make an entire industry dare to believe in the future again. Raising the tax rate on online casinos to 26 per cent as financial compensation feels both reasonable and responsible.”
