Gambling Stocks Fall as Government Considers Tax Rises

by James Gibson, 3 October 2025

The UK’s Chief Financial Minister Rachel Reeves mentioned possible higher gambling taxes, causing stocks to fall.

Possible gambling tax hikes trigger stock falls. © eisteddford_37, Pixabay

Key Facts:

• Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said gambling taxes could increase soon
• This has had an immediate effect on the stocks of major gambling companies
• These stocks have experienced a drop, with some falling by more than 1%

Rachel Reeves, the UK’s chief financial minister, has implied that numerous gambling taxes will increase in the next budget. According to her, the government wants the gambling sector to pay its fair share of tax.

She didn’t directly confirm such a hike would take place, though it seems likely that one is planned. As such, no details are currently known. Even if some information was available, it could change before tax increases actually happen.

How Stocks Reacted

Reeves was at the Labour Annual Conference when she made the comments about possible gambling tax rises. The following day, various gambling companies listed on the London Stock Exchange experienced drops in value.

Sports betting company Evoke had the largest drop of 1.5%, while Entain also had a rather significant decline of 1.08%. Flutter, another major company in the gambling sector, saw its stocks decrease by 0.5%.

Recent Talk of Gambling Tax Hikes

While stocks have clearly been affected by Reeves’ comments, the possibility of gambling taxes increasing hasn’t just come out of nowhere. It’s been in the works for most of 2025.

Back in April, the government announced a proposal to create a single, unified tax rate for all remote gambling operators. People in the industry were concerned this would be devastating for small businesses.

Some MPs even voiced opposition to this. More than 100 MPs expressed concern about the plans for a single tax rate and instead supported a targeted levy on the UK’s active online gambling operators.

In an attempt to justify the levy, MPs pointed out that operators of gambling sites in the UK are taxed at a lower rate than in other countries. If other countries can have higher taxes, the UK should have them too.

The Next Budget

The next budget is due to be delivered on Wednesday, 25 November. Any increases in gambling taxes probably won’t be confirmed until then, though there will undoubtedly be a lot of talk about them.

Given how much stocks have fallen in response to talk of tax rises, they may experience a greater fall if tax increases are confirmed. This just goes to show how concerned investors are.

Right now, there’s no telling exactly how any updates in gambling taxation will work. It’s also unclear how much of an impact changes to the current tax system will have on the gambling sector.