A premature leak in error from the Office for Budget Responsibility has revealed that the tax rate on horse racing betting will remain at 15% for the foreseeable future. Fears had been raised for the majority of 2025 that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves would increase this duty, which is paid for by bookmakers, therefore severely hitting organisations which directly fund the sport through the Levy Board.
However, more than half an hour before Reeves was due to release the November budget, the OBR released details that included tax updates related to gambling. The unchanged tax rate on racing is undoubtedly a success for the sport, which took measures such as an unprecedented day of strikes on September 10th in which no racing took place in Britain.
There are significant increases elsewhere in relation to gambling taxes though. The primary hit is on remote gaming tax, which affects online casino gaming, with that rising to 40% from 21% as of April 2026. This increase was one of the primary aims of those representing the sport in terms of the merits of those respective bets, once again suggesting those within racing have been heard.
Other increases will affect betting on sports from April 2027. The general betting duty, which is the tax applied to bets on all sports other than horse racing, will increase from 15% to 25%, but is deferred for a year from next April.