UK Gambling Shares Dive as Budget Tax Talks Intensify

This decrease in share price saw the stock market value of large operators drop by more than £2 billion. This follows talk that Treasury officials could be taxing the sector up to £3 billion in extra taxes in the Autumn Budget. Think tanks have advocated for the remote gaming industry to be hit with a more-than-double tax hike to 50%, and the sports betting tax to rise from 15% to 25%.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been a key spokesperson for raising taxes in the gambling sector. He wants to use the additional revenue to support reducing child poverty. Brown highlights that the UK gambling sector tax rate is fixed at 21%, which is considerably lower than the rates in other European countries like Austria and the Netherlands. He has said that “…increased gambling levies are not the sole solution for tackling child poverty, but adopting this measure would be a clear and direct budget decision.”

The large operators in question are Flutter Entertainment, Entain, Rank Group and Evoke, all of which reported around 5% decreases in their shares last week. This news coincided with Flutter Entertainment’s Q2 report, with the other operators due to release their reports this week.

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has stated that steep tax hikes will undermine the current regulations in the market, forcing punters to find unsafe alternatives. One of the main reasons Government officials seek to flatten the rising spike in gambling is to combat gambling-related harm. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves has proposed using the increased tax revenue to fund further responsible gambling tools.

The Autumn Budget will be delivered in late October, so large operators are bracing for further impact amid rampant speculation over large tax increases.