Ireland’s government is considering an increase to the 2% betting duty on stakes as part of Budget 2027, which Finance Minister Simon Harris will present on 6 October. Pool betting duty is also expected to double from 1% to 2% from next year.
No proposed rate for the main duty has been made public. The Social Democrats called in May for betting duty to rise to 5%, with the extra revenue going to sport and culture.
How betting duty works in Ireland
Irish betting duty is charged on turnover, not on gross gaming revenue (GGR). Operators pay 2% of every stake taken, and the rate applies to both retail and online bets. A turnover tax falls hardest on products with thin margins, which in practice means sports betting in retail shops.
The rate was last changed in Budget 2019, when the government doubled it from 1% to 2%. According to the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA), 222 betting shops closed and around 1,000 retail jobs were lost in the years that followed.
The government is setting the tax package against a wider budget reported at €7 billion in public spending and €1.5 billion in tax reductions. Corporation tax receipts have run ahead of forecasts in the run-up to budget day.
Retail estate already shrinking
The IBA puts the current Irish retail estate at 643 betting shops, less than half the 1,385 that were open in 2008. It counted 47 closures in 2025 and 41 so far in 2026.
Entain and Flutter are already cutting. Entain said in April it would close one third of its Ladbrokes shops in Ireland. Flutter is reviewing up to 100 Paddy Power shops across the UK and Ireland, with around 400 jobs at risk. UK operators face a similar squeeze: Betfred has said it could shut 495 shops if machine duty doubles in Britain.
The IBA said in its pre-budget submission that the current duty already takes more than retail bookmakers earn:
“Betting duty now costs retail bookmakers more than 180 per cent of their entire net profit.”
Industry warns of black market shift
The IBA opposes any increase and argues the cost would reach customers through the prices they are offered.
“Every euro of additional cost on a licensed operator has to be recovered somewhere, usually through reduced odds and reduced value for customers.”
The association also said that “even a relatively small increase in cost or taxation within the licensed market materially increases the attractiveness of illegal alternatives.”
Anthony Kaminskas, founder of Dublin-based independent bookmaker AK Bets, warned that a further rise could push licensed operators toward casino products, weaker sports betting prices, or a direct charge on bets, such as making a €100 stake cost €105.
Calls for a tax on online revenue
Stewart Kenny, a co-founder of Paddy Power, has called for a 40% tax on online betting and casino revenue in Ireland, according to The Irish Times. Kenny’s proposal would move online taxation from stakes to revenue and at a far higher rate than any option currently on the table.
Under the current system, retail and online bets pay the same 2% turnover duty despite different margins and cost bases.
Regulation and tax arriving together
The budget decision comes as Ireland moves to a new licensing regime under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, overseen by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI). Operators will carry new licensing and compliance costs under that framework in the same period as any duty increase.
Ireland would also be joining a wider group of European markets raising gambling taxes. The UK increased remote gaming duty to 40% in its 2025 budget, and the Netherlands raised its gambling tax to 37.8% of GGR in 2026.
What happens on 6 October
Harris will set out the final rates on budget day. If the main duty rises and pool betting duty doubles as expected, the changes would take effect from 2027. The IBA’s closure figures for 2025 and 2026 will be the benchmark for whether a second increase in eight years has the same effect on the retail estate as the first.
Source: Irish Bookmakers Association
