On UK budget day, the Gambling Commission used the spotlight not to lobby on tax, but to double down on its core message: even as the Treasury leans harder on the sector for revenue, the regulator’s priority remains clamping down on the black market and tightening consumer protection.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget confirms steep increases to gambling duties, including a jump in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% by 2026 and a higher general betting duty for remote sports wagering by 2027, moves expected to raise more than £1bn a year. Industry voices and analysts have already warned that the new tax burden could squeeze margins, trigger shop closures and nudge price-sensitive customers toward offshore sites.
Against that backdrop, the Commission is signalling that enforcement won’t be dialled down to compensate. Its latest statements emphasise three pillars: sustained pressure on unlicensed operators, tougher action against licensed firms that fall short on affordability and safer gambling checks, and continued investment in independent research into gambling harms, particularly among younger and digitally native players.
The regulator is also pushing for deeper data sharing and joint operations with other agencies to disrupt illegal online offerings that target UK customers from overseas, often with aggressive bonuses and zero safeguards. With major tax hikes now locked in, the fear across the regulated channel is that any perceived retreat by the UKGC would hand an easy win to black market brands.
Instead, the message from Canary Wharf is that tax and regulation have to move in step: a higher fiscal load on compliant firms needs to be matched by visible action against those who operate outside the rules. For operators, the new landscape reinforces a simple equation: UK market access now comes with a higher price tag, and the only sustainable strategy is to treat compliance, AML and safer gambling not as box ticking, but as core to the business model.
