Horse racing to be unaffected by Rachel Reeves’ planned two-tier betting duty regime

Horse racing is set to be unaffected by Rachel Reeves’ proposed two-tier system for taxing sports betting as part of the Autumn Budget, according to a report from the Financial Times.

The Chancellor is now planning on leaving the rate of general betting duty (GBD) at 15%, a figure which would remain unchanged from its current rate.

It was initially suspected that Reeves was going to hike the GBD from 15% to 30% in next week’s budget, and this would have had consequences for those involved in the industry.

https://twitter.com/BHAHorseracing/status/1990442304721879124/

With Reeves aiming to fill the void in the UK’s finances, betting is an area that will be largely affected. The Chancellor even stated that the gambling industry must be ready to pay its “fair share” of tax.

This signals another significant U-turn by Reeves in her efforts to tax the gambling industry, as the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and the British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) have played their part.

Tax rises could still see job losses and the closure of betting shops

Despite it appearing as though the GBD is to remain at 15%, Reeves is planning on raising tax on remote gaming and gaming machines, which can be found in betting shops across the country.

In the UK, there are around 5,800 betting shops, which provide 40,000 jobs in the industry.

Should the Machine Gaming Duty (MGD) tax rise to 50% as planned, British racing could lose £84m ($110m) while around 3,400 betting shops would close.

“If machine games duty or taxes on self-service betting terminals are increased, thousands of betting shops could be at risk of closure, resulting in the loss of millions in media rights payments to racing and removing a critical source of funding for the sport,” said a spokesperson from the BGC.

“We have also consistently warned that further tax rises will push customers towards the unsafe, unregulated black market, where there are none of the safer gambling tools or protections offered by licensed UK operators. This would mean less revenue for the exchequer, fewer safeguards for consumers, and reduced funding for sport.”

Featured image: British Horseracing Authority

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