UK Remote Gaming Duty at 40%: what it means for online casinos
Remote Gaming Duty nearly doubled to 40% from April 2026. A former PLC CEO on what it does to margins, suppliers, marketing and M&A in UK online gaming.
By Andrew Lindley · · 3 min read
From 1 April 2026, UK online casino operators pay Remote Gaming Duty at 40% of gross gaming yield, up from 21%. The government also announced a new 25% rate for remote betting within General Betting Duty from April 2027, with bets on UK horse racing staying at 15% (HM Government).
That is close to a doubling of the biggest single cost line for most UK-facing casino businesses. Having run a listed gambling company and built operators from scratch, here is how I would think about it.
The arithmetic is brutal for mid-sized operators
Take a casino with £10m of gross gaming yield. At 21%, duty was £2.1m. At 40%, it is £4m. That extra £1.9m comes straight out of the same pot that pays for marketing, platform fees, game supplier revenue share, staff and compliance.
Large groups can spread that across scale and other markets. A mid-sized, UK-only operator often cannot. Rank Group, for example, told the market it expected the Budget changes to reduce annual operating profit by around £40m (Hargreaves Lansdown).
It lands on top of earlier changes
The duty rise follows other changes that already squeezed UK online casino revenue. Online slots stake limits of £5 per spin for players aged 25 and over took effect on 9 April 2025, and a £2 limit for 18 to 24-year-olds followed on 21 May 2025 (Gambling Commission).
Lower stakes and higher tax on what remains is a combination that forces hard choices.
Where the pressure goes next
Suppliers. Operators will push back on game and platform revenue shares. Analysis from industry press suggests some of the profit pool is already shifting between operators and suppliers (next.io). Expect tougher contract negotiations and more operators building in-house.
Marketing. Customer acquisition costs that made sense at 21% duty often do not at 40%. Bonusing, affiliate deals and sponsorship budgets are the obvious places to cut.
Product mix. Operators with both betting and gaming will look harder at where they make money once the 25% remote betting rate arrives in 2027.
Market choice. For newer brands, the UK becomes a market to enter deliberately rather than by default.
What I would do now as an operator
- Rebuild the unit economics for every acquisition channel at the 40% rate, not the old one.
- Renegotiate supplier terms before renewal dates, using real volume data.
- Review group structure and markets. Which brands and markets still clear your return threshold?
- Decide whether you are a buyer or a seller. Higher costs tend to drive consolidation. I cover that in gambling M&A in 2026.
The bigger picture
High tax does not stop people gambling. It changes who can afford to serve them, and how. The risk regulators and the Treasury will watch is whether players drift towards unlicensed sites that pay no duty at all and offer no protection.
If you are reworking your UK model, or deciding whether to stay in the market, I am happy to talk it through. Get in touch.
Sources
Gambling industry business adviser. Holds a solicitor's practising certificate but does not give legal advice through this business. Co-founder of Lottoland and Lot.to, former CEO of Sportech plc and former General Counsel of the Tote. More about Andrew