UK betting and gaming duty receipts reached £1.93 billion in the first four months of the 2026-27 financial year, and Remote Gaming Duty supplied half of the total, HMRC statistics released on 30 September 2026 show. Remote Gaming Duty is the tax on remote gaming, which includes online slots and casino games. Its receipts for July alone more than doubled on a year earlier.
What The HMRC Figures Show
Total betting and gaming receipts for April to July 2026 were £1,933 million, which is £309 million (19%) higher than the same period of the previous financial year. Remote Gaming Duty made up 50.0% of that total, and General Betting Duty made up 16.6%. HMRC classes the 2026-27 figures as provisional.
HMRC expects the increase in total receipts to reflect, in part, the rise in the Remote Gaming Duty rate from 21% to 40% from April 2026.
July Drives The Increase
The rise arrived late in the period. Total receipts for April to June 2026 were £985 million, only £3 million (0.3%) higher than a year earlier. July then brought in £948 million, against £642 million in July 2025.
Remote Gaming Duty accounted for most of that difference. Receipts were £590 million in July 2026, compared with £283 million in July 2025, an increase of 108%.
Remote Gaming Duty has a standard accounting period of one quarter, with payment due within one month, so receipts arrive unevenly across the year. HMRC expects the rate rise to have contributed to higher receipts from July 2026 onwards.
The Rate Changes Behind The Figures
The Remote Gaming Duty rate rose from 21% to 40% on 1 April 2026. HMRC set out the change in a publication dated 26 November 2025, which describes it as part of a package that will raise over £1 billion a year. The publication states that the government has targeted the largest increase at remote gaming, such as online slots and casino games, which it describes as generally considered to have lower operating costs and to be more harmful than other forms of gambling.
Two further changes sit in the same package. The government abolished Bingo Duty from 1 April 2026. A new 25% rate of General Betting Duty will apply to general bets made remotely from 1 April 2027. The new rate excludes remote bets on UK horseracing, which keep the existing rate, and bets placed on self-service betting terminals in licensed premises stay at 15%.
How The Duties Moved
The duties moved in different directions between April and June 2026, compared with the same months a year earlier. Remote Gaming Duty receipts were £376 million, up 22%. Machine Games Duty receipts were £162 million, up 5%. General Betting Duty receipts fell 14% to £161 million, and Lottery Duty receipts fell 15% to £225 million. Bingo Duty receipts were £2 million, £4 million lower than a year earlier.
What The Statistics Cover
The statistics count tax collected by HMRC. They are not a measure of how much players spent or how operators priced their games. Remote Gaming Duty applies to gaming providers' profits from remote gaming with UK persons. HMRC will publish its next betting and gaming statistics in September 2027.
