What The UK's 40% Gaming Tax Means For Bettors
The first major operator results published under the UK's higher gambling tax point to a clear early answer on how the increase reaches players: through leaner marketing and tighter promotions, rather than obvious changes to the games themselves.
Entain - the owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, and Evoke - the owner of William Hill and 888, both reported recently that the rise in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% cut into online profit, and both named promotional and marketing spend as the first cost they trimmed to protect margins.
The government said the change would raise more than £1 billion a year and was aimed at the products it treats as most harmful.
Players looking at online casinos will not see a new charge on their account, but the way operators respond is already shaping the value on offer. The rate rise was confirmed in the 2025 Budget and enacted through the Finance Act 2026 - GOV.UK, gambling duty changes.
How Does The Gambling Tax Affect Players?
Remote Gaming Duty is a tax on operators' profits from online gaming such as slots and casino tables, not a fee billed to players. HMRC set the rate at 40% from April 1, 2026, up from 21%, while leaving tax on sports betting on a separate track.
Because the duty lands on operator margins, players feel it indirectly through the value of bonuses, the intensity of marketing and the range of games firms choose to push.
The government said it singled out online gaming, including slots, because it views those products as lower cost to run and more harmful, and wants to discourage operators from steering customers toward them.
The UK Gambling Commission continues to oversee how licensed operators market and run these games (UK Gambling Commission).
Will Gambling Bonuses Get Worse In The UK?
The first evidence from operator accounts points that way, at least in how firms are defending profit.
Evoke reported on August 12 that a £46m rise in gaming duties, mostly in the UK, hit its first-half earnings, and said it offset more than half of that through what it called "lower but more effective marketing investment, improved promotional efficiency and operational cost savings." (Evoke H1 2026 results).
Entain reported the next day that its online underlying earnings fell 5% to £395m, with the margin drop reflecting the duty increase and only partly offset by revenue growth (Entain investor relations).
Neither firm has announced a blanket cut to generosity, but both point to promotional spend as the lever they are pulling first, which for players tends to show up as fewer or more tightly targeted casino bonuses.
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Are Betting Odds Getting Worse Because Of Tax?
Not from this change, at least not yet. The 40% rate applies to Remote Gaming Duty, which covers online slots and casino play, not to sports betting.
Bets sit under General Betting Duty, and the government has set a separate new remote betting rate of 25% that starts on April 1, 2027, with bets on UK horse racing excluded and held at 15%.
So, the immediate pressure sits on online casino value rather than the prices shown at betting sites. Anyone comparing sports odds is more likely to feel the 2027 change than the current one.
What Players Should Watch Next?
The full weight of the higher duty will show over several quarters, because it applies to accounting periods that begin on or after April 1, 2026.
Entain is also cutting debt through a phased exit of its Central and Eastern European business to steady its balance sheet under the new regime.
For players, the signal to watch is second-half results and whether promotional value tightens further as operators move past the first months of the 40% rate. More coverage is on the Gambling.com news page.
