BGC Warns Tax Rise Could Strip Slots From UK Casino Floors

If you play the machines on a UK casino floor rather than a slot on your phone, this one is for you. The Betting and Gaming Council has told the Treasury that a mooted doubling of Machine Games Duty could strip gaming machines out of a third of Britain’s casinos before the arcade lights even go up for Christmas. It is a warning shot ahead of the Autumn Budget, and it is squarely about what happens to the physical reels players actually walk up to and play.

What’s been released

The row centres on Machine Games Duty, the tax paid on takings from electronic gaming machines in casinos, adult gaming centres, bookmakers and bingo halls.
The Betting and Gaming Council has made a direct warning to the UK government about the loss of thousands of jobs, should Machine Games Duty rise to 40%.

It comes off the back of rumours that Chancellor John Healey is pondering doubling the three levels of MGD in his inaugural Autumn Budget, which is set to be announced in just over two weeks.

Up to 3,800 jobs would be put at risk should this occur, the BGC has said.
Across the wider land-based sector, the numbers are bigger still:
accountancy firm EY estimates that raising MGD to 40% would put up to 16,000 more jobs, nearly 1,500 betting shops and 34 casinos at risk, while leaving the Treasury roughly £124 million worse off overall.

What’s changed

One proposal being looked at would see Machine Games Duty rise to 40% for machines outside pubs.
That would mirror what has already happened online:
under the proposal under consideration, MGD would rise from its current rate of 20% to 40%, mirroring the increase applied to Remote Gaming Duty in the 2025 Autumn Budget, which lifted the online rate from 21% to 40% from April 2026.

Operators are already modelling what that would mean for the machines themselves. Genting Casinos UK chief executive Paul Willcock warned that
government proposals to double Machine Games Duty could push 13 of its 32 casinos, approximately 38% of its estate, into unprofitability, adding roughly £16 million a year to the company’s cost base.
That is a direct read-across to the games on offer: fewer profitable machines means fewer machines kept switched on, and in the worst cases, venues closing their doors to players altogether.
The industry group’s EY scenario puts up to 16,000 jobs at risk if Machine Games Duty reaches 40%.

Supporters of a rise argue the current rate undercharges a product capable of high losses in short sessions, and that the extra revenue would be substantial:
research by the Social Market Foundation estimates that such a move could raise GBP 458 million a year for the government.
Operators counter that the Treasury’s own sums do not add up once closures are factored in, pointing to EY’s projection of a net revenue loss.

Where it fits

This lands on top of a UK land-based sector that has already absorbed one major duty hike this year via the online side of the business, and it follows the BGC’s broader public campaign on the issue.
The BGC’s “Back Our Betting Shops” campaign puts retail staff and communities at the centre of its case against a possible rise in Machine Games Duty to 40%, following warnings from major operators about the possible effect of the change.
Crucially,
that rate is a scenario under debate, not an announced government decision,
so nothing changes on casino floors yet.

For players, the story to watch is less about tax policy and more about what sits on the gaming floor come November. If the Chancellor presses ahead at the Budget, the machines most exposed are the mid-stake Category B cabinets that make up a large share of British casino and adult gaming centre estates, the kind of hardware that sits alongside the slot and live-table content this site usually covers. A material cut to that estate would be one of the few regulatory stories this year with a direct, visible effect on what UK players can actually walk up to and play.

Sources

• SBC News – BGC goes for the jugular in stark warning to government over mass job cuts
• Gambling.com – BGC Warns Of 16,000 Job Losses From Gambling Tax Rise
• iGaming Post – Genting UK Warns Machine Gaming Duty Rise Could Cause 13 Of Its Casinos To Close
• GamblingNews – UK Looks at Bigger Slot Machine Tax to Boost Budget
• Casino.com – BGC launches betting shop campaign ahead of machine duty debate