Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for a 30% increase in iGaming taxes to help combat child poverty in the United Kingdom.
Gordon Brown, former leader of the Labour Party and UK Prime Minister, backed up a report by the left-leaning think tank Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which argues that higher taxes on slot machines and iGaming would lift around half a million British children out of poverty.
According to the report, the tax hike is intended to offset the fiscal shortfall created by the current Labour government’s decision to scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap. In a The Guardian opinion piece, Brown describes raising taxes as “the crucial first step in the battle we must wage against child poverty.”
He claims the industry is “significantly” undertaxed and avoids taxes by registering many operators overseas or in tax-free zones. He also dismisses the iGaming industry data. They state that companies pay $6.01 billion annually and employ over 100,000 people, but Brown calls those figures “grossly exaggerated.”
These comments got a fast response from the Betting and Gaming Council. They point out this tax increase as "economically reckless". According to them, such increases would only push gamblers into the arms of the illicit market.
Related articles
Brown urges more taxes to combat child poverty in the UK
In 2017, then Chancellor George Osborne introduced the UK’s two-child limit policy. According to this law, families claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit can only receive the child element for up to two children, unless they qualify for specific exemptions. This means that families with more than two children do not receive financial support for subsequent children.
“These are the children of austerity, the victims of 14 years of Conservative rule, an era whose most vindictive act was to treat newborn third and fourth children as second-class citizens, depriving them of all the financial support available to their first and second siblings,” Brown wrote in the piece.
The IPPR study suggests increasing taxes on online casinos from 21% to 50%. They also propose taxes on slot machines and gaming machines from 20% to 50%.
“In a context of glaring and rising levels of child poverty, it seems fair to ask this industry to contribute a little more," wrote Henry Parkes, principal economist and head of quantitative research at the IPPR.
Child poverty numbers reached a record high in 2024. In 2024, an estimated 4.45 million children in the UK were living in relative poverty after housing costs. This means their household income was below 60% of the median income. Those numbers represent 31% of all children in the UK.
That's all for now. Stick around for more Betting news and updates on esports.gg.
