90 Labour MPs back higher Machine Games Duty in the UK Autumn Budget

Pressure is building in the UK ahead of next week’s Autumn Budget, with around 90 Labour MPs backing a rise in Machine Games Duty (MGD) on Category B gaming machines to 40 per cent. For betting shops, bingo venues and gaming halls, the point is simple: this is no longer a fringe proposal, and the numbers on revenue and venue economics are now in the political conversation.

1. Halesowen MP Alex Ballinger is leading the campaign and has written to Chancellor John Healey urging the government to lift MGD on Category B machines to 40 per cent, following the same pattern as last year’s increases in Remote Gaming Duty and General Betting Duty.
2. The proposal has support from about 90 Labour MPs, and former prime minister Gordon Brown is also backing it. That matters because it gives the tax rise more political weight a week before the Autumn Budget announcement.
3. Category B machines, which can pay out up to £500, are the most common electronic gaming machines in UK betting shops, arcades and bingo halls. They are currently taxed at 5 per cent on stakes up to 20p, 20 per cent on stakes up to £5, and 25 per cent on stakes above £5.
4. Ballinger cited the Social Market Foundation’s June proposal, which estimated that a higher MGD rate could raise between £275m and £458m a year. He also pointed to the concentration of adult gaming centres in deprived communities, saying 47 per cent are located in the most deprived fifth of the country and that the most deprived local authorities have more than six times as many per head as the least deprived.
5. Industry groups are warning that a higher tax could hit betting shops, bingo venues and gaming halls, with some operators predicting venue closures and job losses if the increase goes ahead. Ballinger said pub fruit machines should be exempt from any increase, while bingo would remain free of duty under the proposal.

The political logic here is straightforward enough: the proposal is framed as a targeted tax rise on Category B machines, not a broad levy on every machine in every venue. The practical question for operators is whether that distinction survives the Budget process, and whether the government decides that MGD is the next place to look after last year’s duty changes.