Jumpman Gaming Wins Tribunal Fight Over £13.2m Freeplay Tax Bill
Jumpman Gaming has won an Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) appeal against HMRC, avoiding a Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) assessment on promotional spins that the tax authority argued should have been taxed.
The case, Jumpman Gaming Ltd v The Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs ([2026] UKUT 00364 (TCC)), was decided by Judge Raghavan and Judge Brannan on September 25.
It centred on Jumpman's "Mega Reel" promotion, in which players received a free initial spin, and HMRC's position that subsequent spins of other games won as a result of that promotional spin should be treated as dutiable under section 159A of the Finance Act 2014.
The First-tier Tribunal had already found in an earlier ruling, Jumpman Gaming Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1117 (TC), that the original Mega Reel spin itself was not taxable.
HMRC appealed the question of whether the follow-on spins of other games, won as prizes from that free spin, should be taxed instead.
The Upper Tribunal upheld the First-tier Tribunal's reasoning, ruling that if the promotional spin that triggered them was not taxable, the subsequent spins should not be taxable either.
The ruling is published on the Upper Tribunal's decisions register.
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Financial Impact
The ruling means Jumpman Gaming avoids an RGD liability reported at roughly £13.2 million (about $17.5 million), which HMRC had sought to assess on the promotional structure.
The decision sets a precedent for how UK tax authorities can treat multi-stage promotional mechanics - an initial free spin that unlocks further spins on separate games - under Remote Gaming Duty rules, an area that operators running similar cascading promotions will be watching closely.
HMRC's decision on whether to seek further appeal had not been disclosed at the time of the ruling.
The case will be watched closely by online casino operators running similar cascading promotions.
