Senior officials within British horse racing are said to be furious after the government refused to increase the betting levy from the current rate of 10%.
Ministers have been meeting for almost three years to discuss a potential increase, which would provide the sport with much-needed funds at a time when costs are escalating.
However, it was confirmed this week by Labour minister Ian Murray that the Horserace Betting Levy will remain at 10% – leaving key figures within the sport with the task of finding new ways to raise additional revenue.
Counting the Cost
Horse racing is the only sport in the UK that receives an annual stipend from bookmakers.
It is paid by all UK licensed operators that make a gross profit of £500,000 or more a year from their horse racing markets, with 10% of that figure paid to the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB).
The HBLB are then tasked with repurposing the funds for the betterment of horse racing, through breeding programmes, scientific research and veterinary education.
The levy has raised approximately £100 million annually for a number of years – it was £108 million, to be precise, in 2025, but horse racing officials believe the 10% needs to be increased to help the sport cover its increasing costs.
That was something that ministers, alongside the gambling minister Baroness Twycross, have been considering. However, it was confirmed this week that no increase to the levy will be implemented.
According to Murray, speaking on behalf of Twycross in the House of Commons, the increased gambling tax schedule – announced by the government in November and set for a phased roll out starting next month – will place an additional squeeze on the profits of bookmakers.
“We want to provide stability and certainty to the gambling sector, Murray commented.
“For this reason, the Government does not feel it is appropriate to pursue legislative changes to the rate of the horserace betting levy at this time.”
Ministers have also decided to rule out extending the levy to overseas racing as well, in the belief that the current fund already ‘appropriately reflects’ the relationship between betting and horse racing.
In Good Faith
Unsurprisingly, key figures within the sport – including the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – are dismayed by the decision.
Brant Dunshea, the chief executive of the BHA, commented that it was ‘disappointing’ that the government had taken a number of years to decide not to increase the levy contribution.
“Throughout protracted negotiations British horseracing engaged with the government in good faith, including providing clear evidence of a substantial – and growing – gap between our costs of providing the sport and the return we receive from betting,” Dunshea said.
He also raised concerns that the decision not to extend the levy to overseas racing could leave Britain behind, pointing to the fact that the sport in both Ireland and France receives a higher amount, in real terms, from their respective levies.
A Question of Affordability
Dunshea also moved the conversation onto the matter of affordability checks and the black market.
The checks have become one of the most bitterly debated topics in UK betting, with a suggestion that they are indirectly helping to grow the black market – something the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, alluded to when presenting the Gambling Commission with an extra £26 million in her Autumn Budget in a bid to tackle the illegal sector.
Dunshea argues that if the government won’t increase the Horserace Betting Levy, they should rethink the roll-out of affordability checks in a bid to plug the sport’s financial gap.
Following their pilot scheme, which began back in 2024, it’s thought that the Gambling Commission are set to green light the official implementation of financial checks as early as May this year.
At the current rates, punters wagering £1,000 or more in a 24-hour window, or £2,000 within 90 days, will be subject to the so-called ‘financial risk assessments’. The plan is for these to be ‘frictionless’ and non-invasive, however pilot scheme testing has suggested that’s not always the case for some individuals.
As a consequence, it’s thought that thousands of UK punters could instead turn to unlicensed, illegal bookmakers and betting sites to circumnavigate the checks – costing horse racing in terms of levy contributions and the country as a whole through lost taxable revenue.
Tote chief Patrick Desmond has claimed that the major bookmaking firms now view horse racing as a ‘hassle’, while Arena Racing Company head Martin Cruddace called on the government to ‘grasp the nettle and take back control of this unelected quango’ in reference to the regulator.