More than 100 Labour MPs have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to hike online gambling taxes, as pressure continues to mount ahead of November’s Autumn Budget.
Back in April, the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs opened a joint consultation which explored the possibility of bringing pool and general betting duty, currently 15%, in line with remote gaming duty at 21%.
This would result in a unified Remote Betting and Gaming Duty, which critics have argued would hamper horseracing and keeps the rate of tax for online casino and sports betting too low.
In April, the Institute for Public Policy Research proposed increasing remote gaming duty to 50%, machine games duty to the same rate and general betting duty from 15% to 30%.
Increasing those rates would lift half a million children out of poverty, according to the think tank, and has been backed by former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Brown claimed the hikes would generate more than £3bn, leading to the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) calling the proposals “economically reckless”.
A significant number of Labour backbenchers have now added their voices to the debate and called for Reeves to increase taxes to help child poverty in a letter sent by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform.
Led by Alex Ballinger and Beccy Cooper, the duo said the current UK tax regime was “relatively light” compared to other jurisdictions’ tax rates.
The pair said online casino and slot tax rates in the Netherlands, Austria and Pennsylvania were well above the UK, while sports betting tax rates in the US and France were also cited.
The letter additionally included direct reference to the Institute for Public Policy Research’s proposals.
Noting that UK-based operators are “highly profitable”, the letter suggested horseracing should be ringfenced due to the risk of driving customers to the black market.
The letter read: “As you prepare for the Autumn Budget, we are writing to encourage you to explore the introduction of a targeted levy on harmful online gambling products, with revenue ringfenced to help address child poverty and related harms.
“We propose this policy as a means to redress the relatively light taxation of online gambling, supporting our shared goals of delivering sustainable public finances alongside improved public health outcomes.
“Such a policy would support the government’s manifesto pledge to reduce gambling-related harm and enable vital action to alleviate child poverty.”
It added: “An online gambling levy – calibrated to reflect both profit and harm – offers exactly that: a credible, fair and immediate source of revenue.
“It would signal a government serious about aligning fiscal responsibility with social justice, and committed to tackling poverty not just with words, but with action.”
Co-signatures included former shadow education secretary and one-time Labour leader candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey, former shadow minister for sport Clive Efford and Julia Buckley – Shrewsbury’s first female MP.
Speaking to ITV, Reeves said: “I didn’t need MPs or former chancellors to tell me to launch an enquiry into gambling taxation. I did that as chancellor, and I’ll set out the plans on the taxation of gambling – and indeed of other areas – in my Budget on 26 November.”
The letter from Labour arrives days after the Liberal Democrats backed calls to increase remote gaming duty to 42%.
Earlier this month, UK Treasury exchequer secretary Dan Tomlinson called the speculation surrounding tax increases “inaccurate” and “irresponsible”.
His comments came after all race meetings scheduled for 10 September were rescheduled by the British Horseracing Authority because of planned strikes against the potential hikes.
The post More than 100 Labour MPs sign letter calling for online gambling tax increases first appeared on EGR Intel.
Lobbying led by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform comes ahead of the Autumn Budget, as backbenchers lend support to significant changes to existing tax regime
The post More than 100 Labour MPs sign letter calling for online gambling tax increases first appeared on EGR Intel.