British Gambling Commission to publish first invoices for new statutory levy
The regulator has clarified the payment process for the new gambling levy.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has announced that the first invoices for the new statutory gambling levy on licensed operators will be available online through eServices from September 1. Full payment for this financial year (April 2025 to April 2026) will be required by October 1.
For the first year of the statutory levy each licensee will receive one combined invoice for all British gambling activity, and a second invoice for non-British activity if appropriate.
Operators must not pay the levy until they have received their invoice on eServices. Payments will be via GovPay or bank transfer to the bank account specified on the invoice. Payments must be for the full value of the invoice, quote the invoice number in full and must not be combined with any other payments to the Commission.
Payment of the statutory levy is a licence requirement, and therefore non-payment, or late payment of the statutory levy could result in operating licence revocation, unless the Gambling Commission is satisfied that this is due to administrative error. If a payment does not meet the listed requirements it may be returned and licences could be at risk of revocation.
The Gambling Commission recognises that some operators may have submitted returns including non-leviable foreign income, whereas other operators will have submitted returns which do not fully account for leviable income earned from foreign customers. It will invoice operators separately for GB and non-GB leviable activity. It is the operator’s responsibility to pay the full amount of the levy based on supply to GB customers before October 1 2025.
For any non-GB invoices that an operator believes includes non-leviable activity from foreign customers, it is the operator’s responsibility to notify the Commission promptly and at least before October 1 of any query in relation to income earned from foreign customers, in order to avoid enforcement measures based on the full amount invoiced. If it does so, the regulator will suspend enforcement of that element of the levy until the query is resolved. In raising a query, the operator should give full reasons why particular sums are not due.
If the Commission’s invoices do not include any sums which ought to be brought into account, it is the operator’s responsibility to notify the Commission of the shortfall and the reasons for it, and to pay the full sum due. If it fails to do so, the Commission may take enforcement measures, including revocation of the licence under section 119 of the Gambling Act 2005.
Operators can prepare for the statutory levy payment by ensuring Regulatory Returns data is submitted correctly and on time and that they have access to eServices. Further information around payments will be emailed to operators in the coming months, so operators should ensure the regulator has an up-to-date email address.
The new British gambling levy came into force in April. The Gambling Commission reminded operators that following a change to its Licence Conditions and Code of Practice (LCCP), the previous requirement for licensees to make a voluntary annual financial contribution for research, education and treatment was removed as of March 31. Any future voluntary contributions to bodies that conduct research, prevention and treatment will be genuinely voluntary and will not count towards the statutory levy.
Gambling levy rates
The rate that licensees must pay will range from 0.1 per cent of gross gambling revenue (GGR) for remote and non-remote pool betting operations, gambling machine operations and family entertainment centres to 1.1 per cent for online gambling and betting, bingo and software licensees.
Land-based casino and retail betting licensees will pay a rate in the middle of that at 0.5 per cent of GGR. Both remote and non-remote society lottery operating licence holders and external lottery manager operating licence holders will pay a 0.1 per cent rate.
Last week, a group of public health researchers claimed that government-commissioned research funded by the new UK gambling levy will “lead to more harm” for the public due to insufficient policies to prevent conflicts of interest. A fifth of the money raised will go to research, led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. But experts told the British Medical Journal (BMJ) that a call to join the Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre in June threatens the “opportunity for a fresh start” because its policies “will not protect the research process” from industry influence.
