Remote Gaming Duty Takes 50% of UK Gambling Tax Receipts

HM Revenue & Customs recorded £1.933 billion in betting and gaming receipts between April and July 2026, up £309 million, or 19%, from the same period a year earlier.

The new detail in HMRC’s September 30 betting and gaming statistics update is the split behind that total. Remote Gaming Duty accounted for 50.0% of receipts. General Betting Duty was a distant second at 16.6%.

The change follows the increase in RGD from 21% to 40% on April 1.

July Changed the Tax Mix

The first quarter did not look nearly as dramatic. April-June betting and gaming receipts were £985 million, only 0.3% above the previous year. RGD brought in £376 million during those three months, up 22%.

That put RGD at about 38.2% of total receipts for the quarter, by 15M’s calculation. Add July and the cumulative RGD share jumps to 50%.

Period

Total receipts

RGD receipts

RGD share

April-June 2026

£985m

£376m

38.2%

July 2026*

~£948m

~£591m

~62%

April-July 2026

£1.933bn

~£967m

50.0%

*July figures for RGD are 15M calculations from HMRC’s rounded cumulative data.

The arithmetic puts roughly £591 million of RGD receipts into July alone. That would be around 62% of all betting and gaming duty received during the month.

HMRC itself flags the timing. It says the April rate increase is expected to have contributed to higher receipts from July onwards. RGD uses quarterly accounting periods, with payment generally due within one month.

Several Other Duties Fell

The first-quarter figures went in different directions:

• General Betting Duty generated £161 million in April-June, down 14% year on year;
• Lottery Duty fell 15% to £225 million;
• Machine Games Duty moved the other way, rising 5% to £162 million;
• Gaming Duty was up 2% at £58 million;
• Pool Betting Duty remained tiny at £0.7 million, down 61%;
• Bingo Duty produced £2 million, down 67% (that duty was abolished from April 2026).

The tax data should not be read as gambling revenue. Separate Gambling Commission figures, covered by 15M in September, put Great Britain remote gambling GGY at £8.3 billion for 2025/26. HMRC is measuring cash tax receipts instead.

The next tax change is already scheduled. A 25% General Betting Duty rate for most remote bets starts in April 2027, while remote horseracing remains outside the higher rate.