Explainer: Why British Racing is on a Collision Course with the Government

Collaborative post / Wed 3rd Sep 2025 at 10:56am

If you are a keen horse racing fan, one of the things you can set your watch to is that you’ll find horse racing meetings taking place somewhere in the UK on almost every day of the year, with perhaps Christmas Day being the only exception. Yet, on the 10^th of September, British racing will go silent for one of the rare times in its history, pandemics and world wars aside.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has taken the unprecedented decision to call off meetings up and down the country on the 10^th September. It’s not the biggest date on the racing calendar, with relatively low-key meetings at Carlisle, Kempton, Lingfield, and Uttoxeter, yet the call to action is significant, and it is intended to act as a signal to the Labour Government that the industry is unhappy.

So, what is the strike all about? In a word, tax. The government is weighing up significant changes to how UK horse racing betting is taxed, bringing it in line with the rate of tax paid by remotely operated online casinos. The BHA claims the changes will cost the racing sector up to £300 million, shedding jobs and putting the sector’s future in jeopardy. The government maintains it’s about streamlining the tax system, and not necessarily about putting an additional tax burden on the industry.

Sports Betting vs. Online Casino Duty Explained

Tax on betting and gaming is complicated, but it is not necessarily something that the average punter notices. Before 2001, anyone filling out a slip in a bookmaker’s shop had to add and pay tax (just under 10%) themselves. As Chancellor, Gordon Brown changed that in 2001, putting a 15% gross profits tax on the bookmakers instead. It’s for that reason that today you don’t see any taxes when you place a sports bet. If you visit an iGaming platform like Flamez Casino online, the same applies – you won’t pay tax on your wagers or any winnings.

Yet, underneath the hood, there are differences. Depending on the type of sports bet, the operator pays 15%. It can be different for different types of bets, such as spread bets, and depending on where your bet is placed, such as at the racecourse. At online casinos, the operator can pay up to 21% on profits from UK players. The government’s idea is to bring the sports betting tax up to 21%. Again, we stress that the tax system is complicated, and you have to take everything from types of bets to the physical location of the operator into account, but you get the idea – more tax on sports betting profits.

BHA Standing Firm on Betting Duty

And then, there’s another element – the Horseracing Betting Levy. On top of the 15% tax, bookmakers send 10% of profits back into the racing sector, covering everything from prize money to funding equine health programmes. Thus, the BHA is arguing that the tax burden on bookmakers will rise to 31% overall. The logic dictates that operators, who often carry both sports betting and casino games, will prioritize the latter, as they will be much more profitable, thus hurting the economics of the horse racing sector.

It remains to be seen whether the Labour Government will go through with the plans. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has shown flexibility in revenue-raising ideas before, and the government has signalled that it is willing to negotiate. The BHA seems to be standing firm. We are all accustomed to seeing the ‘blue chip’ racing events on television, like Royal Ascot and Cheltenham, with huge sponsorships and profits, but this, the BHA argues, is about the bread-and-butter racing meetings that run every day of the week, the low-key events that make British racing great.