Chancellor announces high street support funded by gambling tax rise

Summarised from 2 outlets · 5 reports · Updated 28 Oct, 22:32 · Archive

Chancellor John Healey has announced support for high streets, funded partly by raising gambling duty from 20% to 25% from April.

Chancellor John Healey has announced measures to support Britain's high streets, to be funded partly by raising duty on gambling machine games with stakes over £1 from 20% to 25% from April next year. The increase is less than initially feared, after initial expectations the tax would be doubled.

The threshold for 100% small business rates relief for retail and hospitality firms will rise from £12,000 to £18,000, with tapered relief from £21,000, up from £15,000. This will exempt 70,000 extra firms from paying business rates altogether. A further 3,500 pubs, 3,900 restaurants, 2,200 cafes and 1,700 hairdressers and beauty salons will also be exempted.

The government will freeze real-terms business rates bills for qualifying retail and leisure properties in England in 2027–28 and 2028–29. The total package means that half of all retail and leisure firms in England will not pay business rates, with around 110,000 seeing property tax bills fall next year.

Stock market investors responded positively to the gambling duty announcement. Shares in Rank, which owns Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos, rose 11%, while Entain, owner of the Ladbrokes group, rose 5%.

How it is being reported

• High street support pledged but gambling firms set to pay the priceGambling firms will see duty on machine games with stakes over £1 lifted from 20% to 25% from April next year.Independent Business · 28 Oct, 16:26
• High street support pledged but gambling firms set to pay the priceGambling firms will see duty on machine games with stakes over £1 lifted from 20% to 25% from April next year.Evening Standard · 28 Oct, 16:05
• High street support pledged but gambling firms set to pay the priceGambling firms will see duty on machine games with stakes over £1 lifted from 20% to 25% from April next year.Independent Business · 28 Oct, 16:05
• High street support pledged but gambling firms set to pay the priceGambling firms will see duty on machine games with stakes over £1 lifted from 20% to 25% from April next year.Independent Business · 28 Oct, 15:41
• High street support pledged but gambling firms set to pay the priceGambling firms will see duty on machine games with stakes over £1 lifted from 20% to 25% from April next year.Evening Standard · 28 Oct, 15:41

In this story: John Healey · Rank · Entain · England

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