MPs have urged the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to ignore “scaremongering” by gambling companies and push ahead with higher taxes on the most harmful products, as pressure mounts on the Treasury to extract more from the £11 billion industry ahead of this month’s Budget.
In a report published on Thursday, the Treasury select committee accused betting firms of hiding their most “insidious” and addictive products behind the veneer of traditional, lower-risk activities such as horse racing and seaside amusements. The committee said the Chancellor should focus new duties on high-street slot machines and online casino games, both of which have seen rapid growth since the pandemic.
The recommendations come as Reeves’s team finalises the 26 November Budget, with Treasury officials still weighing whether to harmonise gambling tax rates or target specific sectors. According to industry sources, the Chancellor is likely to favour a moderate rise, expected to raise between £1 billion and £1.5 billion, but she faces mounting political pressure to go further.
Calls for a tougher regime echo similar proposals from former prime minister Gordon Brown, who has backed a £3 billion increase in gambling duties to help fund the removal of the two-child benefit cap, and from influential thinktanks such as the Social Market Foundation (SMF) and IPPR.
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