Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst has once again warned the Treasury of the dangers of increasing gambling tax, as MPs accuse the gambling sector of “scaremongering” ahead of the Autumn Budget later this month.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will reveal on 26 November whether the industry will face a rise in duty across the land-based and online sector, although a report this week in The Telegraph suggested UK horseracing will be spared.

As the budget draws closer, MPs and those working in the gambling industry have made repeated attempts to sway the chancellor’s decision via statements, signed letters and warnings from major players, including Entain, that said it would divert investment, and evoke claiming it would be forced to shutter shops if taxes were raised.

At the end of October, the Treasury Select Committee held a two-hour session in which Public Policy Research (IPPR) interim associate director of economic policy and AI, Carsten Jung, Social Market Foundation (SMF) director Theo Betram and retired Paddy Power co-founder Stewart Kenny gave testimonies as to why tax should be increased to as much as 50%.

Hurst and chair of the trade body’s tax committee, Stephen Hodgson, counter argued that doing so would be detrimental to the industry.

And in an additional statement, released on Friday (7 November), Hurst doubled down on those points, warning that a rise in gaming duty will lead to tens of thousands of jobs being put at risk and an increase in black market stakes.

She wrote: “Each month, 22.5 million people in the UK enjoy a bet – whether on the lottery, sports, online or in bookmakers, casinos and bingo halls.

“The latest NHS Health Survey for England shows that just 0.4% of adults are problem gamblers. This underlines the importance of ensuring betting and gaming policy, including taxation, remains proportionate and evidence-based.

“Further tax increases on the regulated online sector risk undermining consumer protections by pushing players towards the unsafe, unregulated black market – while reducing Treasury revenues and cutting the vital funding our members provide to British sport, including horseracing, football, rugby league, darts and snooker.

“Independent analysis by EY shows such proposals could put over 40,000 jobs at risk, divert £8.4bn in stakes to the black market and wipe £3.1bn from the sector’s contribution to the UK economy.

“Any increase in machine games duty would be devastating for land-based operators like casinos and betting shops. These are already highly taxed, highly regulated businesses that provide thousands of good jobs on high streets and in hospitality venues across the UK.

“Further tax rises would threaten their very survival, leading to shop and casino closures, job losses, and reduced investment in local communities.

“The government must think very carefully before taking decisions that could undermine Britain’s much-loved leisure and entertainment sector and drive customers towards the unsafe, unregulated black market.”

Hurst added: “We have always recognised that betting and gaming can lead to harm for a small minority, which is why our members are investing more than ever in safer gambling – including new stake limits on online gaming, enhanced affordability checks, swift data-driven interventions, robust advertising safeguards and funding for a new £100m statutory levy for research, prevention and treatment to tackle problem gambling and related harm.”

The BGC statement came in response to the Treasury Committee releasing its minutes of a meeting held on 4 November.

The committee called on Reeves to ignore the “scaremongering” of the gambling industry and recommended the Treasury ensures remote gaming duty and machine gaming duty is taxed at a higher rate than gaming duty.

Its conclusion read: “Gambling can be fun. Many people enjoy various forms of gambling, ranging from seaside arcades and bingo through betting on horseracing and football to online gaming.

“However, gambling causes social ills. Different forms of gambling cause varying levels of harm to individuals, families and society. We are not convinced current Treasury policy on the taxation of gambling captures the varying extent of those harms.

“The government should sharpen the differentiation between physically present gambling related to horseracing or arcades versus the online games that promote harmful, addictive, high frequency betting that bring no engagement with or benefit to life in our communities.”

The post BGC chair reiterates dangers of raising gambling tax ahead of Autumn Budget first appeared on EGR Intel.