The gambling statutory levy explained

What the gambling statutory levy is

The statutory levy is a legal duty on gambling businesses to fund work that reduces gambling harm. Before April 2025, operators chose how much to give, and who to give it to, under a system of voluntary annual contributions. Now the amount is set by a published percentage and collected by the regulator.

It came out of the government's 2023 review of gambling law, covered on our gambling white paper 2023 page. The Gambling Commission said in its annual report that the levy commenced on 6 April 2025, and the old research, prevention and treatment contributions in the LCCP ended on 31 March 2025.

For anyone using a casino app, the key point is simple. The levy is a cost of holding a licence, like a fee, and it falls on the business. It isn't a tax on your deposits, and you won't see a levy line in your transaction history.

The levy covers Great Britain. Our UK rules for casino apps hub explains which other rules sit alongside it, from licensing to stake limits.

Gambling statutory levy rates by sector

Rates differ by type of gambling. Online businesses carry the highest rate, and smaller land-based activities much lower ones. Each rate is a percentage of the previous year's gross gambling yield (GGY), which is broadly what customers stake minus what they win back.

The government's rate table also places gambling software licences in the online band. Amounts under £10 aren't collected, which keeps tiny bills from costing more to process than they raise.

Every partner app we review, such as Coral Casino, sits in the 1.1% online band, as does any operator holding a remote gambling licence.

How the levy is worked out: a pound-by-pound example

Because the charge is a flat percentage, the arithmetic is short. Take an imaginary online casino whose gross gambling yield for the previous year was £100 million. At 1.1%, its levy bill is £1.1 million, due to the Commission by 1 October.

1. Find the operator's GGY for the previous year (stakes minus winnings paid out, with any exclusions the rules allow).
2. Multiply by the sector rate: 1.1% for online, so £100,000,000 × 0.011 = £1,100,000.
3. Pay the Gambling Commission by 1 October.
4. The government then splits the money across research, prevention and treatment.

Put another way, for every £100 of GGY an online operator keeps, £1.10 goes to the levy. That £100 of GGY is itself the money players have lost, which is why the house edge matters: across many bets, a game's built-in margin means players as a group lose, and the operator's yield is what results.

For a sense of scale only, the Commission's statistics put GB remote casino, betting and bingo GGY at £8.3 billion for 2025–26. A flat 1.1% of that would be roughly £91 million. Treat this as an illustration, not an official total, because the bill uses the previous year's figures and allows some exclusions.

Where statutory levy money goes

Half of the levy pays for treatment. In England that money is directed by NHS England, which runs specialist NHS gambling clinics that anyone can refer themselves to. The Scottish and Welsh governments direct their own shares.

Thirty per cent pays for prevention, such as public health work aimed at stopping harm before it starts. The remaining 20% funds research through UK Research and Innovation, with a small slice kept by the Commission for its own evidence work.

The split is fixed by government rather than by operators. Under the voluntary system, a business could choose which charity or project to back. Now no operator decides which treatment service or study gets its money, which was one of the main aims of the change.

Why a statutory gambling levy replaced voluntary donations

Voluntary contributions had two weaknesses. The total raised depended on goodwill, and the industry kept influence over where the money went. Critics argued that harm services couldn't plan years ahead when their funding could change at short notice.

The 2023 white paper proposed a compulsory levy to fix both problems: a predictable income set in law, and spending decisions taken by public bodies. The approach mirrors the wider shift in gambling regulation since 2023, alongside the 10x wagering cap and online slot stake limits.

GambleAware has wound down: where to get help now

GambleAware, the charity that commissioned treatment and awareness work under the old voluntary system, has wound down. Its closure was reported for 31 March 2026, a year after the levy replaced the voluntary system that funded it. Don't rely on older help links that point to it.

Free, confidential support is still there, and it's run by named services. If gambling is costing you more money or time than you want, these steps are a sensible starting point.

1. Call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. It's run by GamCare, free, and open 24 hours a day for people in England and Scotland.
2. In Wales, you can also call the NHS Wales Helpline on 0808 2819 265.
3. Ask about NHS treatment: in England you can self-refer to an NHS gambling clinic, and the NHS gambling addiction pages (opens in a new tab) explain how.
4. Block online gambling for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years with GAMSTOP self-exclusion.
5. Set a deposit limit or a time-out in any app you keep, using the tools described on our safer gambling tools page.

GamCare's talk-to-us service (opens in a new tab) also offers live chat and WhatsApp if a phone call feels like too much.

How the levy affects casino apps and their players

You won't find the levy in a casino app's cashier, game rules or bonus terms. It's settled between the operator and the Commission once a year. Your stake, the game's return to player and the offer terms stay exactly as published.

Where the levy does touch the app is indirectly. The treatment and prevention services it funds are the ones an app's safer gambling page should signpost. A well-kept app links to the National Gambling Helpline, GamCare and GAMSTOP, not to services that have closed.

Taxes on operators are a separate cost again. Since 1 April 2026, remote gaming duty takes 40% of operators' remote gaming profits, so the levy is a much smaller charge than duty.

Our answer to whether you pay tax on casino app winnings covers the player side in more detail.

What the statutory levy doesn't do

It's easy to read more into the levy than it contains. These are the common misunderstandings.

• It doesn't add a fee to deposits or withdrawals, and it isn't taken from winnings.
• It doesn't pay for marketing by operators; spending is directed by public bodies under a fixed split.
• It doesn't decide individual complaints or compensate players; that's what the complaints and ADR rules are for.
• It doesn't apply to the National Lottery, which is exempt.
• It doesn't cover Northern Ireland, because Commission rules apply to Great Britain only.

It also doesn't replace operators' own duties. Under the Commission's customer interaction rules, every app still has to spot signs of harm and act on them, whatever it pays in levy.

Statutory levy timeline

The levy moved from proposal to collection in about two years. These are the dates that matter.

Full details of rates and the spending split are on the government's statutory gambling levy publication (opens in a new tab), and the Commission's 2024 to 2025 annual report (opens in a new tab) records the start date.

Levy-paying casino apps with a welcome offer

The statutory levy doesn't make one app better than another, because every licensed operator pays the same online rate. The apps below are our partners; each holds a Gambling Commission licence and therefore pays the levy. 18+ and terms apply to every offer, and gambling should stay a paid-for pastime, not a way to make money.

Coral Casino (18+, new players, 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027): deposit and bet £10 or more on slots to get 100 free spins worth 10p each on selected games, with 48 hours to accept, 7 days to use them and no wagering on winnings. Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards don't qualify.

Ladbrokes Casino (18+, new customers): deposit and spend £10 or more on slots to get 50 free spins a day for 10 days, up to 500 in total, at 10p each on selected games. Claim before 23:59 each day; spins last 7 days and carry no wagering. Prepaid cards, PayPal, Paysafe, Neteller, Skrill and Moneybookers deposits are excluded.

PlayOJO (18+, new UK customers, not Northern Ireland): a first deposit of at least £10 brings 80 free spins on Big Bass Bonanza at 10p each, with winnings paid as cash and no wagering. It can't be combined with other offers and is only available through the designated offer link.

Coral and Ladbrokes are both run by LC International Limited (Entain), so you may not be able to open new accounts at both. Compare them in our Coral vs Ladbrokes guide or read the PlayOJO app review.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.