Committee fails to get to grips with the nitty-gritty of gambling tax - but events may have overtaken it anyway

The Treasury committee has been holding a series of meetings examining some of the decisions facing chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves as she prepares for the budget, and last week it was time for gambling to take its place in the spotlight.

The problem was that the meeting seemed, to this observer at least, to stray off topic.

However, given the report that emerged on Sunday evening about what might be contained in the budget when it comes to gambling, the whole thing might have been a waste of time anyway.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that horseracing will be "spared" from the chancellor's gambling tax rises on November 26 and that gaming machines and online gaming will be hit instead, although there was the caveat that no final decisions have been made.

Taken at face value, the report would suggest that general betting duty (GBD) will be left alone in the budget and that remote gaming duty (RGD) and machine games duty (MGD) will be raised. That would mean the idea of online gambling duty harmonisation, at the very least, has been shelved.

It was reported the changes would raise around £1 billion in extra tax revenue, much less than the £3bn or so that think tank proposals had floated this year. That would suggest that RGD and MGD are not going to be raised to the extent that the think tanks had called for, which in one case would have meant more than doubling the rate to 50 per cent.

Should the Telegraph report prove to be correct, it would represent some good news for British racing – but it would be far from being free of consequence.

• British racing unites as 363 sign open letter urging chancellor to abandon betting tax hike 

A hefty increase in MGD would push betting shops that are on the margins of profitability into trouble. A number of operators have said they would have to close shops should the government adopt the think-tank proposals.

Every betting shop closure would mean thousands of pounds of lost income for racing from the levy and media rights.

Racecourses hoping to get that income back in the next round of negotiations over online media rights are unlikely to find operators in a particularly cooperative mood, especially with some in racing having been seen as being on the side of the gambling industry's fiercest critics.

An increase in RGD will also have consequences for racing. Operators will seek to make up for the lost income from online slots and the like elsewhere, which might mean reduced promotion and sponsorship for racing and less generous odds and offers for punters.

The lead-up to the budget has also featured proposals for changes to the levy, with suggestions that it be increased and the level of GBD on racing bets be reduced to boost the sport's income.

There was no reference to the levy in the Telegraph's report, although it did claim the Treasury had "grown frustrated" by the focus on the impact a tax rise could have on horseracing. Should there be no mention of the levy in the budget, it would also mean that racing's leadership will have to try to resurrect talks about reform with operators who are likely to be in uncooperative mood.

It might have been hoped that the nitty-gritty of such issues might have taken up the time of the Treasury committee last week, but it was not to be. Beforehand, the committee said that MPs would be looking to "understand differing views on how gambling should be taxed, including the potential revenues which could be generated and any potential impact on the sector". 

Given the "varied landscape of gambling businesses", it was also suggested the committee "may choose to ask witnesses how this should be considered in a tax regime for the whole gambling industry". Issues such as "how to tax organisations whose operations are largely based overseas" and the possible impacts of higher taxes on jobs were also likely to be discussed, the committee said.

However, while horseracing received a fair few mentions, there was no discussion among the MPs about whether the sport should receive special treatment in any tax reforms stemming from the budget. Nor was there a great deal of questioning from the committee about the potential revenues that could be raised from an increase in gambling taxes.

Instead, quite a lot of the session was spent discussing problem gambling, whether taxation could reduce it and – straying into more philosophical territory – whether gambling is a social ill.

Indeed, it led Liberal Democrat committee member Bobby Dean MP to muse: "Are we introducing these taxes to raise more revenue to help the chancellor with her fiscal rules in the next budget, or are we doing it to try and reduce harm?"

They would have been better listening to Michel Groothuizen, chair of the Netherlands' gambling regulator, who said recently: "A financially driven measure like gambling tax is at odds with the policy objective of offering players more protection."

What more the Treasury committee can contribute to the chancellor's calculations is hard to say. It might be that the decision has already been made.

BHA signalling fixture list cuts will come

When the 2026 fixture list was published during the summer, there was disappointment among some that the BHA had not carried out major surgery to the schedule.

Numbers were reduced by only two to 1,548 meetings, although the BHA's director of racing Richard Wayman admitted there had been "significant discussion" about whether there should be a deeper cut in the number of fixtures.

Richard Wayman: intimated there may be cut in fixture list

"That's another discussion we'll have to have for 2027 and it's possible we'll come to a different view next year," he added.

A few months on, and with increasing concerns about the ability of the horse population to service the current size of the fixture list, it looks more and more likely that some tricky decisions will have to be made.

Last week, Wayman said in reference to the 2027 fixture list: "There is clearly a difficult question to be answered about what size of fixture list will be sustainable by then."

Unless there is a remarkable improvement in racing's fortunes over the next few months, it would seem likely the BHA will want to prune back the schedule more significantly, certainly given the signals it has been sending out. However, as it controls only around 15 per cent of the fixture list, there is a limit to what it can do without major concessions from the racecourses.

Barber's bullets

Tipico deal set to create European gambling giant

French media company Banijay has bought a majority share in European gambling operator Tipico Group from private equity group CVC and plans to merge it with its own Betclic brand to create what will become Europe's fourth-largest listed gambling company.

The deal values Tipico at €4.6 billion and will bring together operators which together serve almost 6.5 million unique active players annually, operate more than 1,250 betting shops in Germany and Austria, and employ 5,300 people.

Banijay Group chief executive Francois Riahi said he was pleased Tipico's founders had "decided to partner with us to build a new European leader in the sports betting business".

William Hill: sanctioned over misleading adCredit: JOHN GROSSICK

Ads watchdog upholds complaint against William Hill

William Hill have been ordered to withdraw an advert after the advertising watchdog ruled it was misleading.

A complaint was made about an in-app ad promoting an offer for the game 'Marble Race Live'. The headline text stated “Enjoy £40 on us! When you opt in and stake £20” but the terms and conditions included text saying there was a minimum £40 stake.

The Advertising Standards Authority concluded that because it was suggested that a stake of £20 was eligible for the offer, when that was not the case, the ad was misleading.

Charity calls for gambling marketing restrictions

GambleAware has called for further restrictions on online gambling marketing and content, including the introduction of mandatory health warnings.

The charity has released a report which claims children and young people are being exposed to gambling content online before an age they can critically evaluate it, increasing the likelihood of their experiencing harm.

Chief executive Anna Hargrave said: “The current regulations covering gambling marketing and advertising online were designed before most children had easy access to the internet. Urgent action is needed to update these rules and bring them into the digital age to help keep children and young people safe from gambling harm.” 

Dates for the diary

Monday: The winner of this year's Racing Post/SIS Betting Shop Manager of the Year competition will be announced at an awards lunch at Lincoln's Inn in London.

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