Bingo Duty

Bingo Duty is paid on the profits you makemade from organising and promoting bingo games played in the UK, except:

• bingo you playplayed in your home
• bingo on a machine that is covered by Machine Games Duty
• non-profit making bingo, where you doyou did not charge a player a fee to take part
• bingo you playplayed at certain amusement arcades and travelling fairs, if the stakes and prizes arewere below specific limits

Small-scale bingo is also exempt from Bingo Duty if it’s promotedif it was promoted by a club, organisation or other association of people that doesthat did not have a bingo operating licence, provided either of the following apply:

• only members of a club or organisation or their guests cancould play
• winnings or stakes dodid not exceed £500 on any one day, or £7,500 within any period of 4 or 5 weeks, ending on the last Sunday of each calendar month

If you offer bingo remotely (for example, over the internet) you’ll still be liable for Remote Gaming Duty and will also need to pay Remote Gaming Duty on bingo offered to UK customers.

Find out more about the exemptions from Bingo Duty on Excise Notice 457.

Register

Bingo Duty has been abolished from 1 April 2026. You do not need to register for any periods which began on or after this date. this date.

If you should have registered, youbeen registered for any period before 1 April 2026, you must contact HMRC to find out how to:

• submit outstanding returns
• pay HMRC what you owe

Calculating Bingo Duty

You do not need to calculate Bingo Duty on or after 1 April 2026, as it has been abolished from this date.

If your accounting period began before 1 April 2026 and ended on or after this date, you only need to calculate Bingo Duty for the days up to and including 31 March 2026.

Find out more about accounting periods on Excise Notice 457.

The duty rate is 10% of your profits in your accountingin your accounting period.period. Your profits are your bingo receipts less any winnings you’ve paidwinnings you paid out.

Your bingo receipts include all the payments you getgot from players to allow them to play bingo, for example:

• bingo cards
• participation fees
• stakes from Main Stage Bingo, Combined and Prize Bingo

You do not need to include things like:

• admission fees
• bingo club membership fees
• catering income

Your bingo winnings are:

• cash prizes
• the value of prizes that are not cash
• if the prize is a voucher, the value of the prize that the voucher can be exchanged for

ReadFind out more about bingo winnings and vouchers on Excise Notice 457.

If your winnings arewere more than your receipts, you will not pay any Bingo Duty. You can use any losses on your return to reduce the amount of Bingo Duty you’ll payDuty you need to pay in yourthe next accounting period.

Returns and payments

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From 15th1 dayApril following2026, theyou endcan:

• submit any ofoutstanding returns yourfor periods starting before 1 April 2026
• let us know if you have any over-declarations or under-declarations from previous accounting period.
  periods

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BingoIf Duty hasyou beenwere abolished fromusually 1closed Aprilfor 2026.a You’ll still bespecific abletime, to:

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• letshould ustell knowHMRC ifabout the dates you havewere anyclosed. over-declarationsYou or under-declarations from previous accounting periods

do not need to complete or submit returns for the months you were closed.

Penalties and appeals

You could be charged a penalty if you do not comply with any of your obligations, such as if:

• you do not pay any Bingo Duty you owe
• your return or other tax document is not accurate and as a result you do not pay enough duty
• you do not tell HMRC if a duty assessment sent to you is too low
• you do not notify HMRC about any changes to your business at the right time

Find out more about penalties you may have to pay HMRC.

If you’ve been given a penalty and you think it’s wrong, you can appeal to HMRC.

Record keeping

If you paypaid Bingo Duty, you must keep the accounts and records necessary to:

• work out the bingo promotion profits
• allow HMRC to check the duty due

You must keep all your records for at least 3 years.

Find out more about record keeping on Excise Notice 457.

VAT

Providing facilities for playing games of chance such as bingo is normally exempt from VAT, but there are some exceptions.

Find out more about VAT and Bingo Duty in Notice 701/29 betting, gaming and lotteries.