Bacta pushes Chancellor to hold Machine Games Duty at 20%

Bacta, the trade body representing the UK's low-stakes entertainment sector, has published a letter co-signed by 120 independent businesses calling on Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey to keep Machine Games Duty (MGD) at its current rate of 20%.

The intervention lands the day before Healey delivers the UK budget on 28 October. Speculation over the MGD rate has circulated for months, with some forecasts pointing to a rise to 25% and others to a doubling to 40%, prompting a broader lobbying effort across the gambling sector against any increase.

Bacta had kept a lower profile than other parts of the industry during the campaign, choosing to issue its own letter only hours before the Chancellor's announcement.

The 120 signatories, which include both operators and family-run firms, argue that a higher MGD rate would leave them with no way to offset the cost, since stake and prize levels on their machines are fixed by law and cannot be raised to compensate.

According to SBC News, the letter points to additional cost pressures already facing the sector, including higher energy bills, rising commercial rents, wage inflation and increased employer National Insurance contributions.

Bacta members also highlighted non-recoverable VAT on the services they provide, which the letter put at £56m in 2025, money it says would otherwise be available for reinvestment in the business.

The letter warned that a further MGD increase would run counter to the government's stated aim of boosting growth across every region, and would instead ripple through a wider supply chain, including cleaning and security firms, food and beverage suppliers, taxi operators and professional services, if venues are forced to close.

Bacta also cautioned that job losses would fall hardest in areas that already have historically limited employment opportunities.

Joseph Cullis, President of Bacta, said the letter, signed by more than 100 independent, family-run businesses across the amusement, bingo and leisure industries along with their manufacturers and suppliers, "confirms the impact a rise in MGD will have on these invaluable community-based assets."

Cullis said the venues "provide thousands of jobs, support local economies and are at the heart of high streets and seaside communities across the country."

He added that an MGD increase "would put jobs, livelihoods and the future of longstanding family businesses at serious risk" and that "for some, it could be the final straw."

Cullis said Bacta recognised "the difficult decisions facing the Treasury" but urged the Chancellor "to consider the real-world consequences of such an increase," warning that once businesses close, the jobs, investment and community contribution they provide would be hard to replace.

The Chancellor's budget statement on 28 October is expected to confirm whether MGD will remain unchanged or rise, a decision the sector says will determine the near-term viability of many independent venues.