Last week the BHA launched its #AxeTheRacingTax campaign and online petition to universal support across racing.

The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the consequences of a proposed Government tax raid to harmonise online gambling taxes in the British betting market, which will have clear financial implications for the British racing industry.

The Government wants to harmonise tax for online bets on horseracing (currently 15%) with those of online games of chance like slots and casinos (currently 21%). It is possible that the final harmonised rate could be in excess of 30%.

New research from Development Economics has revealed the potentially catastrophic impact the Treasury’s proposed tax rises on horserace betting could have on the sport – forecasting a £330 million revenue hit to the industry in the first five years, and 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year alone.

We cannot afford for that to happen to the country’s second largest spectator sport.

That’s why as part of the campaign we launched the #AxeTheRacingTax petition, which has been signed by nearly 8,500 supporters so far.

In light of a number of queries received about the sign-up process, we have decided to publish an easy-to-follow step by step guide as to how to add your signature to the petition.

Sign the petition

Step 1: Go to the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/axetheracingtax-back-british-horseracing or search ‘Axe The Racing Tax Petition’ and click on the Change.Org link.

Step 2: On the right-hand side of the screen, you will see the ‘Sign this petition’ form. Simply enter your name and email, then click “Sign petition.” You can also choose for your name not to be displayed on the petition via the checkboxes under the Sign petition button.

Step 3: Check your email inbox and click the confirmation link sent by Change.org to make your signature count. Your signature is now recorded.

Note: After confirming, Change.org will show a donation prompt on the page – this is optional and not required for your signature to be registered. If you have already paid, Change.org has a no questions asked refund policy. To request a refund, you should contact their support team here or at help@change.org.

That’s it! Your signature will be recorded once you confirm your email. No donation is needed.

Please do continue to support the petition and write to your local MP if you have not done so already to make your voice heard about the need for this Government to avoid harming British racing. Instructions on how to find and then write to your MP, including a template letter to use, can be found here. 

We have so far had dozens of positive pieces about the campaign in National newspapers, broadcasters and regional news outlets, so this is getting encouraging pick up.

The BHA continues to work at pace with industry stakeholders to press the case to Government about the need to #AxeTheRacingTax.

BHA Position on HMT Gambling Tax Consultation

To help racing supporters understand the BHA’s position we are publishing some of the key arguments from our submission to the Treasury’s Gambling Tax Consultation, which was supported by the sport’s major stakeholder groups and bodies.

As outlined recently by CEO Brant Dunshea in an interview with Nick Luck at Goodwood, the BHA has registered clear opposition to the principal of the remote gambling tax harmonisation. That position is based on our view that racing is a skill-based betting product that supports jobs and therefore should not be on the same tax rate as algorithm-based online casino products and games of chance.

We have not made any specific recommendations around the rate at which duties should be set, given the Treasury has been consistently clear that the consultation is only concerned with the principle of harmonisation.

It is clear however that the consultation presents an opportunity for the Government to support Britain’s second largest sport, which in turn would lead to British racing being able to play a fuller role in the Government’s growth agenda, especially as a major rural employer and driver of regional economic growth hubs.

This is why we have suggested to the Treasury that it should not only reject harmonisation in principle but also consider implementing a specific remote gambling duty for British racing.

Here is the rationale for why that would be justified:

1. Unique Relationship

• British horseracing has a uniquely symbiotic relationship with the GB Betting Industry.  It is structurally and financially tied to it in ways that no other sport is, and that is best demonstrated by British racing being the only sport to receive a statutory return in the form of the Horserace Betting Levy (HBL).
• Operator profits on British racing are taxed via the General Betting Duty (15%) and the Horserace Betting Levy, a tax only enjoyed by racing (10%), totalling 25%. While this ensures that racing receives a statutory return from betting, it also means that other betting products – either charged at the GBD rate of 15% or the RGD rate of 21% – currently enjoy a competitive advantage over the domestic racing product. Harmonisation would only make that worse.
• The flexibility in gambling taxation policy that already exists in Britain is designed to recognise the domestic economic contribution – and provision of jobs – of the racing industry. Importantly, similar tax differentiations are in place in other nations. France and Italy are both examples where a lower rate of gambling taxation is in place for the domestic racing compared to other betting products.  A flat tax rate eliminates the ability to tailor fiscal policy based on product characteristics, economic contribution and the potential unintended consequences of a tax policy that would hit racing harder than any other sport or gambling sector.

2. Economic Vulnerability

• It has been well publicised by betting that British racing is a comparably expensive product – in part due to the existence of the HBL – and that tends to make it a lower -margin product to run for operators. Compiling odds for racing betting markets is also a resource heavy operation. Regulus Partners estimate average operator EBITA (Earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation) on racing to be around 3% currently, other sports and online casino betting have significantly higher margins.
• It is therefore the case that any significant increase in tax on remote betting on British horseracing risks tipping the sport into the unprofitable category for operators, which is a scenario we are keen to avoid.
• We are also concerned about this damaging the experience for racing bettors in the regulated market, with operators likely to pursue cost saving measures with worse price value a possible outcome. There would be inevitable knock-ons to racing from this, such as further reductions in turnover, on top of the damage we have already seen from affordability checks, and more leakage to the unlicensed sector.

3. Low Gambling Harm, High Social Value

• Betting on racing has consistently found to be a lower risk product in gambling surveys. The Gambling Commission’s 2024 GSGB survey found the problem gambling rate associated with betting on racing to be broadly comparable to national lottery scratchcards.
• It is a cultural and much cherished national institution enjoyed by millions of people across Britain, whether that be through betting or attending race meetings. It also supports 85,000 jobs directly and indirectly.
• Taxing products like racing on a par with games of chance is contradictory to the regulatory changes that have already been made by DCMS, which have largely based on the level of risk associated with different products.
• The rationale for introducing a single Remote Betting and Gaming Duty is related to simplification, cutting bureaucracy (and it is contestable as to whether what is proposed does this) and evasion of the tax. It is our view that none of those reasons justify risking jobs nationwide and jeopardising the world-leading status of our nation’s second biggest sport.

We very much hope that the Treasury recognises the compelling argument we have made on behalf of racing that the sport must be treated differently in any proposed changes to the tax regime. And that it accepts raising the duty on online horserace betting will have a catastrophic impact on our sport and risks tipping it into terminal decline.

We have met with officials running the consultation on multiple occasions since the launch of the consultation in the Spring to make that case.

Now it is your turn. Sign the petition to #AxeTheRacingTax