UK betting and gaming tax receipts rise 19% to £1.93bn in four months

New figures show that HM Revenue and Customs collected almost £1.93bn in betting and gaming duties during the first four months of the 2026–27 financial year. Receipts between April and July were £309m higher than in the equivalent period of 2025. This represents an increase of 19%.

The rise was largely driven by July. The total that month was £948m. That was £306m, or almost 48%, above the £642m recorded in July 2025.

July’s total was also the highest monthly betting and gaming figure in HMRC’s published series. This began in April 2017. It surpassed the previous peak of £692m, set in April 2026, by £256m.

April produced year-on-year growth. Receipts increased from £644m to £692m. May was broadly unchanged at £177m. This is compared with £178m a year earlier. June receipts declined from £160m to £116m.

Betting and gaming receipts reached £948m in July. This was the highest monthly total in HMRC’s series from April 2017.

July lifts four-month gambling tax total

HMRC’s monthly data combines betting and gaming receipts into a single category. It does not provide a breakdown showing how much came from individual duties such as Remote Gaming Duty, General Betting Duty or Machine Games Duty.

The figures also measure tax collected on a cash basis rather than stakes, gross gambling yield or operator profit. Monthly movements can therefore be affected by when liabilities become payable and should not automatically be treated as evidence of an equivalent change in gambling activity.

Even so, the strength of the July figure lifted the four-month total well above the £1.62bn collected between April and July 2025.

The latest amount is already equal to just over half of all betting and gaming receipts collected during the previous financial year. However, seasonal payment patterns mean it cannot simply be used to project a full-year total.

Betting and gaming duty receipts

Full-year receipts reached £3.83bn

The latest table also confirms that betting and gaming duties generated £3.83bn across the full 2025–26 financial year.

That was £215m, or 5.9%, more than the £3.62bn collected in 2024–25. Receipts have risen from £3.30bn in 2022–23 and £3.39bn in 2023–24.

Across all taxes and National Insurance contributions, HMRC collected £322.7bn between April and July 2026. This was £19.1bn more than in the same four months of the previous financial year.

HMRC cautioned that figures from April 2026 remain provisional and may be revised. It also introduced a new monthly alignment process for Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT in August, although the announced methodological change did not apply to betting and gaming receipts.

The next monthly bulletin is scheduled for 22 September 2026.