A year on from the tax rows of the summer of 2025, we’re heading into autumn 2026 with a sense of deja vu. Once again, UK betting firms find themselves facing another tax rise.
This year though, lobbying might be even more difficult, and the simple reason for this is optics. Last year, while betting and gaming still caught a lot of flak, the sector was able to at least mount a defense of sports betting, which was exempted from April’s online gaming tax raise.
This time, the government is going after Machine Games Duty (MGD) – at least it might be. Nothing has been confirmed yet and it won’t be until Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, steps outside No 11 Downing Street on 28 October.
