Labour MPs call for higher tax on Category B machines ahead of UK Autumn Budget

A group of Labour MPs led by Alex Ballinger has asked UK Chancellor John Healey to raise machine games duty (MGD) on Category B gambling machines, with the Autumn Budget due on 28 October. For land-based operators, this is the kind of tax change that moves straight from Westminster chatter into margin pressure.

1. In a letter sent on Friday, the MPs called for a higher MGD rate for Category B machines, specifically B3 machines found in Adult Gaming Centres. Their argument is straightforward: higher-harm gambling products should face higher taxation, especially after the government raised remote gaming duty (RGD) on online gambling from 21% to 40%, effective 1 April this year.
2. The push comes as speculation grows that the Chancellor will use the Autumn Budget to increase taxes on UK land-based casinos. The letter frames the measure as a “popular, targeted and proportionate” way to raise revenue, while also claiming it would protect the wider land-based leisure and hospitality sectors because pubs cannot offer Category B machines.
3. The MPs also cited polling from the Social Market Foundation, which found 43% of voters support measures to increase taxes on slot machines in high street betting shops. That detail matters because it gives the proposal a political cover story: not just revenue raising, but an argument that the public is already on side.
4. The land-based sector is pushing back hard. Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst called the proposal “deeply misguided” and pointed to studies suggesting that a rise in MGD to 40% could cost up to 16,000 jobs and lead to the closure of almost 1,500 betting shops and 34 casinos.
5. At a panel in the Hippodrome Casino last week, UK casino figures also urged the government to reconsider the plans. Regulus Partners’ Dan Waugh criticised the influence of think tanks and lobbyists in gambling policy, arguing that policymakers should focus on the consumer perspective rather than outside noise.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks with exposure to UK land-based gambling, the practical question is not whether the debate is loud — it is. The question is whether the Budget turns that debate into a higher tax bill for casinos, betting shops, and Adult Gaming Centres, and what that does to merchant viability if MGD moves up.