Chancellor Healey raises gambling taxes to fund UK high street relief
The UK's October Budget cuts business rates for high street firms using a gambling tax rise, drawing criticism from the trade press over the government's framing of the sector.
Chancellor John Healey used the UK Budget on 28 October to raise taxes on gambling in order to pay for cuts to business rates on the high street, according to iGaming Business.
Healey is raising the threshold at which high street businesses qualify for rate relief, meaning more firms will be exempt and others will see a real-terms freeze. Adult Gaming Centres, alongside vape shops, have been excluded from that support.
"To pay for this support for our high streets, I am raising taxes on gambling," Healey told Parliament, adding later that he was "raising taxes on gambling to support good growth on every high street."
It is the second gambling tax rise within a year. Former chancellor Rachel Reeves nearly doubled remote gaming duty in 2024, justifying the move by linking it to gambling-related harm. iGaming Business noted that the industry had pointed out none of that revenue was directed towards harm reduction.
The latest increase follows a wider shift in tone from Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government towards gambling premises. In August, Burnham grouped betting shops with vape shops as "dodgy businesses" while announcing new powers for councils to block gambling premises on the high street.
Reaction among government allies was positive. MP and anti-gambling campaigner Alex Ballinger wrote on X that "supporting our high streets should mean backing local businesses that help them thrive, not serving the interests of the gambling industry."
Dawn Butler, who campaigned for the overturning of the aim gambling reform, also welcomed the move. In a video posted to Facebook, she said "Basically we're taxing harm to help good business," while pressing Healey to go further.
Not all reaction was supportive. Restore UK MP Rupert Lowe opposed the tax rise in a post on X, which iGaming Business reported drew widespread negative responses from his own followers.
iGaming Business contrasted the gambling tax rise with a separate, time-limited increase to the banking levy announced in the same Budget, which is earmarked for energy bills support rather than high street relief. Healey prefaced that levy rise by praising banks directly, telling them "I celebrate and am grateful for the role you play," and crediting the sector's "huge contribution to this country in the tax they pay, in the jobs, industry and investment they support."
No equivalent language was offered to gambling operators. iGaming Business argued that the disparity reflects a government view of the sector as a convenient source of revenue rather than a high street business deserving acknowledgement, even as it accepted that gambling firms bear some responsibility for funding harm mitigation given their presence on deprived high streets.