Operators still have a viable path to reclaim Remote Gaming Duty overpayments, even as the UK government moves to permanently shut that door from next year.
The Finance Bill 2026/2027, published on 4 November, sets out sweeping amendments to how promotional free spins, prizes and tournaments are treated for RGD purposes.
Those changes are explicitly limited to gaming activity beginning on or after 1 April 2027, meaning historical liabilities calculated under the old rules remain fair game for challenge.
Tax lawyer Stephen Hignett had already flagged the opportunity, telling industry outlet NEXT.io that operators “should consider applying to HMRC for a refund of RGD” in the wake of the Jumpman Gaming ruling.
That ruling, worth £13.2 million to Jumpman Gaming, centred on a welcome offer that gave new customers a free spin on its Mega Reel game after making a qualifying deposit.
The Mega Reel spin could then award further free spins on other casino titles, and the entire dispute turned on whether those secondary spins constituted gaming payments for tax purposes.
HMRC successfully argued that position before the First-tier Tribunal, only to have the decision overturned at appeal, handing Jumpman a significant and industry-shaping win.
The government’s Finance Bill is a direct response to that defeat, designed to ensure no other operator can replicate the same tax outcome after April next year.
Former HMRC officer and tax expert Gavin West clarified precisely where the new legal boundary will sit: “Free spins and bonuses will only be excluded from gaming payments if they have themselves been won from bonus play.”
That distinction is the crux of the whole matter, since Jumpman’s Mega Reel was always a free-to-play game and therefore fell outside the bonus play category the new rules will define.
Beyond free spins, the bill also targets a broader revision of what constitutes a prize, covering awards made under the rules of a game and payments triggered by the interruption or termination of play.
The Finance Bill itself states it “will revise the definition of a prize, including the treatment of prizes awarded under the rules of a game and certain payments made following the interruption or termination of a game.”
The legislation forms part of the broader package of tax measures announced in the Autumn Budget, now being converted into statute through the parliamentary process.
For the industry, the practical message is two-fold: the precedent Jumpman established is being legislatively erased for future play, but the period before April 2027 remains an open question that sharp operators should be actively exploring with their tax advisers.
