British Horseracing Authority (BHA) interim CEO Brant Dunshea has said the sport needs to recognise that the remote gaming duty hike will have a “trickle-down effect” on horseracing.
Speaking on the BHA Podcast this morning, 22 December, Dunshea added that greater operator collaboration will be needed to support the sport going forward.
Horseracing was given a reprieve in last month’s Autumn Budget, with the tax rate remaining at 15%, plus the 10% Horserace Betting Levy.
However, remote gaming duty will soar from 21% to 40% in April and remote general betting duty will jump from 15% to 25% in April 2027.
Operators have warned the rising tax burdens for those verticals will hamper the ability to commit funds to horseracing via sponsorship.
The likes of Entain, Flutter and evoke have all issued mitigation plans to deal with the significant tax increases.
In fact, evoke has now tapped Morgan Stanley and Rothschild to support on a strategic review which could see the whole business sold.
Horseracing’s carve-out came on the back of a lengthy campaign led by the BHA in the shape of the ‘Axe the Racing Tax’ push.
The governing body argued that tax hikes on horseracing could put almost 3,000 jobs at risk and see the sport lose £330m in revenue over the next five years.
The government had previously consulted on a harmonisation proposal which would have put horseracing in line with remote gaming duty.
On the positive reaction to the Budget, Dunshea said: “For me, the Budget outcome was one of the highlights of the year. But I’ll say that in the context that, if it went another way, for example, harmonisation had been the position that the government pursued, it’d be a very different conversation we’re having right now.
“The biggest highlight that came out of that Budget was that it consolidates horseracing as being recognised by the government as being central to British culture and our way of life.”
Dunshea went on to note the importance of working with operators ahead of what will be a tough 2026 for UK-facing brands.
He added: “Everybody’s taking some time to take a breath. It has been quite a relentless period in terms of that campaign, but we are absolutely committed to building those relationships and those collaborations.
“Betting is so integral to our sport that we need to do those things in partnership and collaboration with our betting operator partners, and we’re committing to do so.
“I think we just need to recognise that there are impacts on the betting industry that will have a trickle-down effect on us, and the best way for us to try and work together on those is in collaboration.
“So, we’re working internally at the moment on what the priorities are for 2026 and how will we engage with our betting operator partners to try and develop ideas around those.”
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Brant Dunshea notes that while carve-out for sport is a positive, it must take a collaborative approach with operators in light of remote gaming duty increase
The post BHA CEO says there will be a “trickle-down effect” for horseracing due to UK tax hikes first appeared on EGR Intel.