HMRC provisional data shows July’s remote gaming duty receipts jumped from £283 million to nearly £590 million, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 108%.
The dramatic rise follows the autumn budget decision to increase remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%, a change that came into force from April 2026 alongside the abolition of bingo duty.
General betting duty was also scheduled for an increase, rising from 15% to 25%, though that particular change will not take effect until 2027.
Taking the full range of gambling duties into account, the 2026/2027 financial year to date, covering April through July, provisionally produced £1.93 billion in receipts.
That figure represents a 19% increase, or £309 million more than the same period last year, with remote gaming duty alone accounting for 50% of the total tax haul.
The July figures are particularly significant because they offer the first real opportunity to measure the concrete impact of the tax changes introduced earlier this year.
Ahead of the budget, critics pointed to the Netherlands as a cautionary tale, where tax hikes delivered just €2 million in additional revenue against an initial target of €108 million.
However, Theo Bertram of the Social Market Foundation argued before the Treasury Committee that the Netherlands comparison was unfair, citing the country’s permissive culture and a judicial system poorly equipped to tackle the black market.
Stewart Kenny, co-founder of Paddy Power, offered a different comparison entirely, arguing that Ireland presented the better analogy, where a doubling of taxation resulted in a doubling of the tax take.
Despite the Treasury’s early positive numbers, the Betting and Gaming Council has maintained a starkly different view of the budget’s overall consequences for the industry.
The BGC stated: “The BGC repeatedly warned that last year’s budget would cost jobs, close businesses and damage growth. By the end of 2026, more than 600 betting shops will have closed and over 10,000 jobs lost across the industry since that budget.”
Industry figures have acknowledged the uplift in receipts while cautioning that more data will be needed across a longer period before any definitive conclusions can be drawn about whether the rate hike has truly succeeded.
