A proposed rise in license fees comes on top of recent tax hikes. It will test whether Britain can keep its regulated market competitive. It will also show if players will move offshore.
Britain’s online gambling industry embraces change. The government’s latest move is to propose an almost 30% rise in Gambling Commission license fees from this year’s levels. It arrives at a specifically awkward time.
While the regulator is also pushing new affodability checks and tighter marketing rules, opeartors are still digesting the near-doubling of remote gaming duty announced at the last budget.
As consumers increasingly look elsewhere, the regulated sector in the United Kingdom feels squeezed from every side. The consultation on fees serves less as an isolated fiscal exercise and more as a test of whether the United Kingdom can stay a leading regulated market without pushing its customers into the black market.
The 2023 white paper promised a review of the Gambling Commission. It committed to reassess the regulator’s funding. This aims to ensure it has sufficient resources for its duties and reform agenda. Many operators have therefore interpreted the timing of the consultation as tone-deaf, coming so soon after the tax rise. The commission’s consultation announcement states that the review follows a commitment in the 2023 Gambling Act white paper. The white paper pledged to reassess the funding of the commission.
The proposed increase aims to plug funding shortfalls and strengthen enforcement. These include against illegal operators. Yet, it lands just months after the government announced steep tax rises. These increases are expected to raise the cost of doing business substantially.
The commission itself has been careful to frame the review as a necessary update.
In an IAGA webinar in January, Andrew Rhodes, its chief executive, explained the views of the commission.
