Hiking betting taxes will shut bookies and value hundreds of jobs, Reeves instructed
A bookie boss has warned the Chancellor that hiking taxes on the industry in this week’s budget would hammer the betting industry – and even leave the Treasury worse off
Rachel Reeves is looking to find billions to balance the books in her autumn budget. But Betfred chief Joanne Whittaker has warned her that picking on punters this Wednesday would be “catastrophic“.
In her letter to the Chancellor she claims that even a slight tax rise would be so “devastating” that the betting industry delivers less not more cash to the Treasury.
“Tax increases will lead to shop closures and job losses,” she claims. “This would have a devastating impact on the communities and high streets we serve and would significantly reduce the industry’s tax contribution rather than increase it.”
Even a modest rise in tax on fruit and slot machines would have a huge effect, according to the letter. Machine Gaming Duty is currently 20% but raising it to 25% would force Betfred to close a quarter of its shops, says Whittaker.
Reeves needs to find £20 billion to balance the books but also aims to build her financial buffer for economic shocks. She’s already expected to freeze income tax thresholds and adjust pension schemes.
But the bookie boss said Betfred is under “immense cost pressure” after last year’s budget left it with higher employer national insurance contributions amid a rise in National Minimum Wage.
The company has shut 392 shops since 2018 when the stakes for fixed odds terminals were cut to £2. Hiking the gaming duty to 25% would, the company estimates, shut 382 of its 1,272 shut and cost 2,051 jobs as well as £52 million in tax revenue and £11m of funding for racing.
Betfred Corporate Affairs boss Mark Pearson said: “Any tax hit will close betting shops and dramatically reduce the cash going back to racing and the Treasury. Once they’re gone, they’re not coming back.”
Whittaker claims that horse racing would also lose out in a tax hike. Betfred estimated that each bookie generates at least £23,500 each year for horseracing.
“If the rate were higher, the impact would be far more damaging to horseracing,” she said. “This is just the impact on Betfred. The rest of the industry would be impacted in the same way, so the potential harm to horseracing would be catastrophic.”
Whittaker also denied the claim that bookmakers were “scaremongering” about tax rises.
“Our retail estate is already under immense cost pressure, absorbing £23m following the October 2024 budget change to employer’s national insurance and an increase of 17.2 per cent over the last two years in national minimum wage. To be clear, tax increases will lead to shop closures and job losses.”
The Treasury has described horseracing as “part of the cultural fabric of the country”, which was why it was the only sector to benefit from a government-mandated levy.
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