90 Labour MPs Back Call to Raise Tax on High-Street Slots
With less than a fortnight until the Budget, the tug-of-war over what UK high streets get to keep on their gaming floors has reached Parliament itself. A bloc of Labour backbenchers wants the tax on betting shop and arcade slot machines doubled, while the operators who run those machines are warning that the move would empty out cabinets rather than fill Treasury coffers.
What’s been released
Labour MPs have ramped up the pressure on UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey to increase Machine Games Duty (MGD) in this month’s Budget, with a total of 90 MPs signing a letter written by Alex Ballinger.
Ballinger, MP for Halesowen and Labour co-chair of the APPG for Gambling Reform, has asked for an increased rate of MGD specifically for Category B machines.
He called for an increase on the tax on Category B gaming machines to 40%, the machines commonly found in betting shops, bingo halls and adult gaming centres.
Ballinger cited research from the Social Market Foundation suggesting the tax could raise £275m-£458m annually, though this would likely decline as betting shops close due to the increase.
Until now, Treasury consideration of an MGD hike had been mostly speculation, but this letter formalises support from a significant swathe of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
What’s changed
The letter arrives as the industry’s own lobbying has intensified.
The Betting and Gaming Council coordinated an appeal in a letter signed by senior executives from Entain, Flutter UK & Ireland, bet365, Bally’s Corporation, evoke and Betfred, calling on the government to rule out an increase in MGD and postpone a planned rise in General Betting Duty until April 2027.
Operators argue that the machines themselves – the Category B cabinets that make up the bulk of gaming floors in bookies, bingo halls and AGCs – would simply disappear from premises that can no longer justify running them.
Casino groups have been making the same case at ground level.
Rank Group chief executive Richard Harris said that in his four and a half years in the role, the company has closed four of its venues, attributing the closures to a high cost base, escalating taxes and regulatory tightening.
Genting Casinos COO Paul Willcock described the prospect of MGD hikes as “keeping us all awake”.
Separately, Genting has already begun shutting venues over the threat, which the operator says would make a sizeable share of its estate commercially unviable if the duty doubles.
Where it fits
This is the third front in the same tax fight this site has been tracking. Online operators absorbed a near-doubling of Remote Gaming Duty earlier this year, and the Betting and Gaming Council has already been warning that further rises could strip slots from casino floors altogether. This latest letter pushes the argument onto Category B machines specifically, the physical cabinets that sit in betting shops, bingo clubs and AGCs rather than online slot libraries.
For UK players, the practical stake is straightforward: fewer or pricier machines on the high street if the Treasury sides with the MPs, versus the status quo industry groups are fighting to protect.
AGCs have been highlighted as the primary target for any MGD hike, with the Category B focus designed to limit the impact on pubs and bingo, though many bingo halls also contain Category B machines.
With the Budget landing on 28 October, this is a story Casinofind.uk will be watching closely, since whatever the Chancellor decides will shape how many machines – and which games – remain on UK gaming floors into next year.
Sources
- SBC News – 90 Labour MPs publicly demand Machine Games Duty rise
- Gambling News – Labour MPs Call for Further Gaming Tax Hikes in the UK
- iGaming Business – Genting ‘itching to invest’ further in UK market but wary of looming MGD hike
- NEXT.io – Ninety Labour MPs back MGD hike
- World Casino Directory – UK Bookmakers Warn of More Shop Closures Over Tax Increases
