Bingo Duty is abolished with effect from 1 April 2026, following its repeal under clause 85 and schedule 13 of the Finance (No.2) Bill 2024-26. Land-based bingo operators registered with HM Revenue & Customs are no longer required to file returns for any accounting period starting on or after that date.
What the Abolition Covers
Bingo Duty was levied at 10% of operators’ gross profits on in-person bingo played at licensed UK premises. Its removal is one of three gambling duty changes taking effect in April 2026, alongside the increase in Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% and, from April 2027, a new 25% rate of General Betting Duty for remote betting.
The government stated its rationale explicitly: bingo is considered a lower-risk gambling activity that supports communities, and removing the duty helps simplify a tax system that previously comprised seven separate gambling levies. The measure is presented as targeted relief for the land-based sector at a time when online operators are absorbing a significantly higher tax burden.
Operators who were registered for Bingo Duty retain the ability to submit outstanding returns online through to April 2030 and to notify HMRC of any over or under declarations from prior accounting periods. HMRC has confirmed that updated guidance will be issued in due course. Operators must continue to comply with all Gambling Commission requirements — the abolition of Bingo Duty has no bearing on licensing or operational obligations under the regulator.
Online Bingo Remains Taxable
The abolition applies exclusively to in-person bingo at licensed premises. Bingo played online is classified as remote gaming and remains subject to Remote Gaming Duty, which rises to 40% from 1 April 2026. This distinction is material for operators running hybrid land-based and digital bingo products, as the two revenue streams will attract fundamentally different duty treatments from the same date.
HMRC’s guidance documents — Bingo Duty (Excise Notice 457) and Public Notice 455a on Remote Gaming Duty — remain the operative references for operators navigating the transition. The penalty provisions for gambling duties are also being updated under the Finance Bill to ensure consistency with the legislative framework established in Finance Act 2014.
Industry Impact
For Rank Group, operator of the Mecca Bingo estate, the abolition delivers an annualised benefit of approximately £6.5 million. Rank’s incoming interim CEO Richard Harris, who took over from John O’Reilly at the end of January, has indicated the saving is expected to push Mecca venues to double-digit operating profit in the next financial year. O’Reilly had described the removal of Bingo Duty as a measure that would “help to sustain jobs and investment in the land-based sector.”
That relief is, however, dwarfed by Rank’s exposure to the Remote Gaming Duty increase, which the group estimates will add approximately £46 million in annual duty costs to its UK digital business before mitigation — a net £40 million impact on operating profit. The same Budget that abolished Bingo Duty also imposed the largest single gambling tax increase on the digital sector in the UK’s recent regulatory history.
The broader fiscal package — covering the RGD increase, the new remote betting rate and the Bingo Duty abolition — is estimated to raise over £810 million in 2026/27, rising to £1.16 billion by 2030/31, according to HMRC projections. UK operators have been digesting the full scope of the duty changes since Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the reforms in the Autumn Budget 2025.
Operators such as Flutter and Entain, whose UK exposure is weighted toward remote gaming, face materially larger cost headwinds than land-based focused businesses. Flutter estimates a £540 million impact from the UK tax changes, while Rank’s £40 million net exposure reflects the partial offset from the bingo duty abolition — a structural advantage that pure-play digital operators do not share.
For operators running Mecca-style land-based bingo venues, April 2026 marks a genuine cost reduction. For the broader industry, it arrives in the same month as the most significant increase in remote gambling taxation the UK has enacted in a decade. Rank Group’s experience illustrates both sides of that ledger.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs
