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Guidance

Statutory Gambling Levy

The Gambling Commission's guidance on the calculation and collection of the statutory gambling levy (statutory levy) and how licensees can prepare for it.

Published
22 August 2025

Last updated
22 August 2025 - Changes

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  1. Contents
  2. Introduction

Introduction

Following a public consultation led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which ran from 17 October to 14 December 2023, and subsequent analysis of the responses to the consultation (opens in new tab), the UK government has introduced a statutory levy to be charged to all licensed gambling activity at varying levels depending on the sector and nature of the gambling activity to ensure impacts are proportionate.

The government’s response to the consultation, published on 27 November 2024, set out the government’s decisions regarding the key aspects of the design and implementation of the statutory levy. The statutory levy has now been introduced via the Gambling Levy Regulations 2025 ('the Regulations') (opens in new tab) and commenced on 6 April 2025.

The statutory levy will be collected and administered by the Gambling Commission under the strategic direction of the UK government, replacing the previous system of industry RET contributions under Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), under which the amounts contributed were voluntary.

The government has decided that statutory levy funding will be directed in specific proportions for the purposes of research, prevention and treatment, in line with the requirements under section 123 of the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in new tab). The priority for the government is to increase the level of investment and strengthen the provision of projects and services to further understand, tackle and treat gambling-related harm.

As the UK government lead on gambling policy, DCMS is responsible for statutory levy policy. This includes:

  • setting of the statutory levy rates per licensed gambling activity
  • providing strategic direction for the distribution of statutory levy funding for research, prevention and treatment
  • establishing robust governance arrangements that ensure sufficient transparency and accountability.

The Commission is responsible for the collection and administration of the statutory levy (under the strategic direction of DCMS). This includes:

  • collection of the statutory levy
  • enforcement of non-payment of the statutory levy
  • publication of annual statutory levy receipts
  • being the initial point of contact for appeal and complaints in relation to the calculation and collection of statutory levy receipts.
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Statutory levy - How the statutory levy is calculated
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