UK Remote Gaming Duty Receipts Rise 108% in July

UK Remote Gaming Duty receipts rose 108% year over year to £589.7 million in July 2026, according to HMRC’s provisional figures, following April’s increase in the tax rate from 21% to 40%. The figures arrive as the betting industry campaigns against a possible increase in Machine Games Duty, a separate tax, ahead of the October 28 Budget.

What HMRC’s Remote Gaming Duty receipts show

HMRC’s September 30 release records July receipts of £589.7 million, up from £283.0 million in July 2025. That is an increase of £306.7 million, or 108.4%, calculated from the unrounded figures in the underlying table.

Remote Gaming Duty covers remote gaming with UK customers, such as online casino games, poker and bingo; the taxable amount is broadly gaming payments received minus prizes paid.

The same HMRC series puts April–June receipts at £376.2 million, up £66.7 million, or about 22%, from a year earlier. Including July brings the four-month total to £965.9 million, an increase of 63%. These are nominal cash collections, not inflation-adjusted measures of gambling activity.

The wider tax total rose more slowly. HMRC collected £1.933 billion across all betting and gaming duties in April–July, up 19% year over year. Remote Gaming Duty accounted for approximately half of that total.

Why an April tax increase shows up in July cash

The 40% rate took effect on April 1. HMRC nevertheless said it expected the increase to contribute to receipts from July onward. That distinction reflects the collection system: operators generally account for Remote Gaming Duty over three-month periods, with payment due by the 30th day after the period ends.

For an operator using an April–June accounting period, the payment deadline falls in July. Other operators have different quarter ends. HMRC’s monthly totals therefore combine staggered payments and can be affected by one-off transactions and revisions.

The April–June increase is not a clean measure of the 40% rate’s effect. Equally, July’s rise cannot be divided by the change in the tax rate to establish how much the underlying online gambling market grew.

What the industry forecasts actually claimed

The July result provides a clear early example of higher receipts after the rate increase. Testing the industry’s warnings requires a closer comparison, however: which tax was being modeled, at what rate, over what period, and against which baseline?

EY’s October 2025 report, commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), modeled a 50% Remote Gaming Duty rate within broader tax packages. Its tables showed additional annual Remote Gaming Duty of £860 million under a central response assumption and £400 million under a higher behavioral response assumption. Both were increases against the report’s estimated 2026 baseline.

That study covered BGC members and excluded activities such as bingo. Its modeled rate, coverage and assumptions differ from the implemented 40% tax. It cannot be tested directly against a single month of HMRC cash collections.

The BGC’s accompanying statement challenged the size and durability of the projected gain. It quoted Chief Executive Grainne Hurst disputing the claimed tax yield and cited industry experts who expected the short-term gain to fall sharply as the increases took effect. These comments concerned the think tanks’ proposals, including a 50% online gaming rate, rather than the enacted 40% rate.

In its October 2 note about Machine Games Duty, Regulus Partners said the online increase would initially raise additional revenue but that cuts to bonuses and investment, along with growth in unlicensed gambling, were likely to reduce the gain substantially.

Midnite tax vice president Stephen Hodgson told NEXT.io that an initial boost was to be expected while the market settled and operators waited to see how the change played out. He said 12–18 months of data would be needed to assess the effects.

That is an industry assessment, not an HMRC finding. The relevant longer-term question is whether operator changes and customer behavior reduce the initial revenue gain, and by how much.

Machine Games Duty is a separate Budget dispute

The October 28 Budget creates the immediate political context, but the proposal now drawing opposition concerns Machine Games Duty, which applies to gaming machines. It is a different tax from Remote Gaming Duty on online gaming.

The Social Market Foundation has proposed a 40% rate for Category B machines. Its report estimates additional annual receipts of £275 million after allowing for behavioral changes, or £458 million without that adjustment. This is a specific proposal for Category B machines, not confirmation that the government will double every Machine Games Duty band.

The BGC’s September campaign cites EY modeling suggesting that a 40% Machine Games Duty rate could leave the Treasury £124 million worse off. The release does not specify the estimate’s time horizon or calculation, or make clear which taxes the net figure includes. It cannot be tested against July’s receipts from the separate Remote Gaming Duty.

Separately, Regulus modeled betting-shop Machine Games Duty receipts falling 32% to about £155 million after roughly three years under a 40% rate. Its argument depends on shop closures and the limited migration of activity to surviving premises. The analysis distinguishes shops’ fixed operating costs from the greater flexibility of online businesses. The note says Regulus may work, or have worked, for companies and stakeholders discussed.

July collections were substantially higher than a year earlier, in the month from which HMRC expected the higher rate to contribute. Those figures alone do not establish how much revenue the increase generated compared with keeping the rate at 21%, and they do not test a proposed change to Machine Games Duty.

What later figures need to establish

Higher tax receipts can coexist with pressure on operators. Dyutam’s coverage of GG.BET’s UK exit provides one example of that wider business context. The tax change also sits alongside debate over Gambling Commission license fees and changes to bonus wagering requirements.

Subsequent HMRC releases will show whether the increase persists across more payment cycles. Assessing why it persists or fades will also require evidence on gambling activity, operator responses and unlicensed-market participation. The current receipts series cannot establish that no customers moved offshore, that operators suffered no harm, or that the tax change caused every part of the increase.

For now, the measurable result is substantial: HMRC collected nearly £590 million in Remote Gaming Duty in July, more than twice the amount a year earlier. Assessing individual forecasts will require matching their tax coverage, assumptions and time horizons.

FAQs

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Sources

• Betting and Gaming receipts tables, July 2026 (ODS) — HMRC, Table 1. Monthly values and percentage calculations.
• UK Betting and Gaming Statistics commentary (August 2025 to July 2026), updated September 30, 2026 — HMRC. Receipts totals and expected timing of the higher rate.
• Statistics background and references — HMRC. Cash accounting, payment patterns and revisions.
• Excise Notice 455a: Remote Gaming Duty — HMRC. Tax base, rate and payment deadlines.
• Gambling duty changes — HM Treasury and HMRC. November 2025 announcement and April 2026 implementation.
• Chancellor’s letter confirming the Budget 2026 date — HM Treasury.
• Impacts of changes to betting and gaming taxation, October 2025 (PDF) — EY, commissioned by the BGC. Tables 2 and 3 and modeling scope.
• BGC statement accompanying the EY tax analysis, October 26, 2025 — Betting and Gaming Council.
• Analysis of proposed Machine Games Duty changes, October 2, 2026 — Regulus Partners. Online-versus-retail assumptions and modeled shop-duty yield.
• Back Our Betting Shops campaign, September 28, 2026 — Betting and Gaming Council. The attributed £124 million claim.
• Addressing the harm: raising Machine Games Duty on Category B machines — Social Market Foundation. Proposed rate and static/dynamic revenue estimates.
• UK remote gaming tax up 108%: did the hike work? — NEXT.io, October 2, 2026. Stephen Hodgson’s comments.