The UK's statutory gambling levy replaced voluntary industry donations on 6 April 2025. Online casino, betting and bingo operators pay 1.1% of their gross gambling yield, and the Gambling Commission collects the money each autumn. The government decides how it is spent: about half on treatment, 30% on prevention and 20% on research.
How the levy is structured
Rates are set in the Gambling Levy Regulations 2025 and depend on the type of licence. Remote casino, betting and bingo licences and gambling software licences pay 1.1%. Land-based casinos and off-course betting pay 0.5%; adult gaming centres, bingo halls and on-course bookmakers 0.2%; and lotteries, pool betting and family entertainment centres 0.1%. No payment is due where a bill is £10 or less.
The Commission invoices each licensee on 1 September using regulatory return data for the previous financial year, and payment is due before 1 October. The first invoices went out on 1 September 2025. Our explainer on levy payments covers the process step by step.
The levy sits on top of gambling duty. Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% of remote gaming profits from 1 April 2026, so an online casino now pays 40% duty on those profits as well as the 1.1% levy. Duty goes to HMRC; the levy goes to the Commission.
Treatment, prevention and research
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport directs spending in set proportions, and each share has a lead commissioner. About 50% goes to treatment, commissioned by NHS England and the Scottish and Welsh governments, which work with providers including the third sector.
About 30% funds prevention. In England, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities leads this work, taking what the department calls a public health approach that is fully independent of the gambling industry. The Scottish and Welsh governments also receive part of this share for their own nations.
The remaining 20% pays for research. Most of it goes to UK Research and Innovation for a new Research Programme on Gambling, with a smaller share to the Gambling Commission for research linked to its licensing objectives. UKRI's first funding calls include a Gambling Harms Research Coordination Centre.
Receipts, reporting and players
When it set the rates, the government expected the levy to raise £90 million to £100 million a year, which it said would roughly double the funding available under the voluntary system. In December 2025 the department said the levy had raised just under £120 million that year, ringfenced for research, prevention and treatment. The Commission is responsible for publishing annual levy receipts, and the department has committed to an annual report on levy finances and progress.
Players do not pay the levy directly. It is charged to operators on their gambling yield rather than added to deposits or bets. What changes is the funding behind treatment services, prevention work and research into gambling harm.
Updated 23 September 2026: corrected the funding split, collection process and Remote Gaming Duty rate against Gambling Commission guidance and government sources.
