Bingo, Arcade Firms Warn Duty Rise Risks Closures
Bingo hall and amusement arcade operators have warned that venues could close if gambling taxes rise in Wednesday's Budget, as the industry makes a last push against a higher rate of Machine Games Duty (MGD).
The warnings, reported by BBC News from Kent, follow a letter signed by 90 Labour MPs asking Chancellor John Healey to raise MGD on Category B machines, the fruit, quiz and slot machines that pay cash prizes.
A HM Treasury spokesperson told the BBC that tax decisions will be set out in the Budget statements and that the department does not comment on speculation or proposals.
What Operators Say Is At Stake
Sarah Calakovic, regional manager at Buzz Bingo in Medway, said a 5% rise in MGD could push 40% of the company's clubs into loss-making territory. She stressed that bingo remains the main product, drawing around 3,500 people through the doors each week, but said machines are the secondary income stream that keeps clubs viable.
Mark Woolls, who runs family arcades and separate adult-only gaming centres in Deal and Dymchurch, told the BBC that the adult-only rooms, where the maximum stake is £2, cross-subsidise the family arcades.
He said that with Minimum Wage and energy bills already climbing, some amusements would close and others are running on tight margins. Donna Curd, manager at Dymchurch Amusements Arcade, said closures would be devastating, pointing out that the arcade is a day out for families and a first full-time job for some local people.
Casino Games Hub
The Case For And Against A Rise
The case for a higher rate has been made by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), a think tank. Its chief economist, Gideon Salutin, told the BBC the state picks up about £700m a year in additional costs linked to gambling, including crime and anti-social behaviour around high street betting shops, welfare costs and housing costs for people who lose their homes. The SMF proposal would double MGD from 20% to 40% on the affected machines.
The letter to the Chancellor was written by Alex Ballinger, MP for Halesowen and Labour co-chair of the Gambling Reform APPG. It says lower-category machines would be unaffected and that pubs would sit wholly outside the scope of the change, because they cannot hold Category B machines. It also says bingo games would stay duty-free.
The Bingo Association disputes that framing. In a statement responding to the letter, chief executive Nicole Garrett said the debate is not about the abolition of Bingo Duty, which the sector welcomes, because MGD is a separate tax on the machines that help keep clubs open.
The trade body's modelling shows a 40% rate would leave 102 clubs, 41% of the total, loss-making and put more than 3,000 of the sector's 7,000-plus jobs at risk, hardest in the North and Midlands. It also cites new Savanta polling showing support for an MGD increase falling to 23%, with 36% opposed, if it would lead to bingo halls closing.
What Happens Next
Rachel Reeves, the previous chancellor, abolished Bingo Duty in last year's Budget, with the change taking effect from April, and the sector welcomed the move. The Bingo Association is now asking the Chancellor to keep MGD at the current 20% rate and to judge any change by its effect on club closures and on jobs outside London and the South East.
The Budget is on 28 October. The industry has been lobbying on machine duty for weeks, and Gambling.com has tracked the build-up, including the letter from 90 Labour MPs and Buzz Bingo exploring a sale amid tax fears. No rate change has been confirmed, so the figures above are operator and think-tank estimates rather than Treasury projections.
