Flutter Entertainment Faces Major UK Tax Hikes: CEO Responds

Flutter Entertainment plc, the world's leading online sports betting and iGaming operator, has responded to significant tax increases announced in the UK's autumn budget. The changes, effective from April 2026 and April 2027, will see iGaming taxes rise to 40% and sports betting taxes to 25%.

The adjusted EBITDA impact of these changes for Flutter, before mitigation, is expected to be approximately $320m in fiscal 2026 and $540m in fiscal 2027. Flutter expects the overall mitigation opportunity to be similar to recent precedent, with a greater relative opportunity for second order mitigation offsetting a moderately lower relative level of first order mitigation.

Kevin Harrington, UKI CEO, commented: “Today’s tax increases are a very disappointing outcome and will have a significant adverse impact on our industry. The Chancellor rightly wants to address harm, but these changes will hand a big win to illegal, unlicensed gambling operators who will become more competitive overnight. These black market operators don’t pay tax and don’t invest in safer gambling. At 40 percent, the UK’s remote gaming duty is now above countries such as the Netherlands, where a recent tax increase saw a rise in illegal gambling and a fall in Government receipts. Despite this impact, I am confident that through both our scale and leading position in the UK, as well as the proactive cost initiatives that we are taking, we are well placed to navigate through today’s changes.”