UK gambling operators paid £1.62bn in taxes in H1

Land-based gambling accounted for the increased tax receipts in H1.
Land-based gambling accounted for the increased tax receipts in H1.

The full return of land-based gaming pushed tax receipts up 11 per cent year-on-year despite a drop in lottery and online tax payments.

UK.- A return to normal operations following the Covid-19 pandemic led to an 11 per cent rise in tax receipts from gambling in the UK in H1. Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has reported preliminary data showing that it took £1.62bn from gambling during the first half of the financial year. The same six months to September 2021 saw tax receipts of £1.45bn.

The majority of tax payments came from the National Lottery and remote gaming (online casino) at £490m and £461m respectively. Those figures represented 30 per cent and 28 per cent of all gaming industry tax payments, but they were actually down year-on-year, from £497m and £501m in the 2021/22 financial year.

The growth in tax payments for the current financial year came from the full return of land-based gaming operations. Machine Gaming Duties (MGD) were up from £106m last year to £267m. General Gaming Duty (GGD) from land-based casinos came in at £76m, up from just £11m in 2021 but still behind pre-pandemic values.

Betting duties from fixed-odds wagers and pool betting were £313m, down 6 per cent. General Betting Duties (GBD) on retail and remote fixed-odds wagers totalled £309m.

The HMRC said that “GBD yearly receipts have increased year-on-year, from £586 million in 2019 to 2020, to £595 million in 2020 to 2021, to £649 million in 2021 to 2022.”

Paul Scully takes over UK gambling legislation

Paul Scully MP has been put in charge of UK gambling legislation, replacing Damian Collins. He becomes the fifth person in two years to have responsibility for the UK government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

Scully is the Conservative Party MP for Sutton and Cheam on the edge of Greater London. He was first elected in 2015. His most recent role was as minister of state for local government and building safety and minister for London. He’s now been made parliamentary under-secretary of state for tech and the digital economy. He will continue to work as minister for London in tandem with the new role.

The UK government’s gambling white paper was due to be published in spring but has been repeatedly delayed for various reasons. There were even suggestions that Truss would scrap reforms altogether. There have been reports that the paper has been pushed back to next year.

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