HBLB Opens Consultation on Levy Audit Costs for Smaller Bookmakers
The Horserace Betting Levy Board wants to know whether the profit threshold that triggers an annual independent accountant's report should change. It's a review aimed at cutting admin costs for smaller and mid-sized bookmakers. The consultation launched on 25 August and closes on 26 October. What's at stake is a band of operators whose assessable profits fall between £250,000 and £500,000.
Right now, firms in that band have to file an Independent Accountant's Report every year. The cost runs up to £2,000 per operator. According to the HBLB, 18 such operators fell into the band in 2025/26, and another 16 sat in a small range either side of it. Those reports give the Board assurance that it's collecting the correct amount of Levy. But the Board is weighing whether to narrow the reporting band so fewer operators carry the cost. No replacement threshold has been named. Neither has an implementation date.
The proposal touches a quirk in how the levy is administered. Levy is charged at 10% on profits from qualifying bets on British horseracing above £500,000. The accountant's report requirement, though, kicks in at £250,000. So a bookmaker can face annual verification costs even when its profits fall short of the level at which it owes any levy at all. Those figures apply to profits from relevant betting activity. They don't cover total stakes accepted or a firm's overall corporate earnings.
HBLB guidance describes the reports as support for its assessment of whether a liability exists and how much an operator owes. In the consultation wording, the Board says narrowing the band "would capture a smaller number of operators and thus reduce their administration burden and costs." No new figure is committed to. The shape of any final rule stays open until the October deadline.
All of this lands against a settled levy rate. In March 2026, the Labour government confirmed the levy would stay at 10% on qualifying profits above £500,000. It also rejected an extension to bets on overseas fixtures. The previous Conservative government had parked the levy renegotiation outside the Gambling Review. DCMS pointed to the need for stability after wider gambling tax changes, including the rise in Remote Gaming Duty from 20% to 40%.
Brant Dunshea, chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, criticised the outcome. "It is disappointing that it has taken almost three years to determine there should be no change in the Levy rate," he said. Racing had engaged with ministers through lengthy negotiations, he added, and presented evidence of a widening gap between the cost of staging the sport and what it gets back from betting.
For bookmakers, the consultation comes down to a narrow cost question. Should up to £2,000 a year in accountancy fees fall on operators earning between £250,000 and £500,000 in assessable racing profits? The HBLB's own count puts the affected group at 18, with 16 more near the edges of the band. Small numbers. Real money for the firms involved, though.
Watch the replacement threshold once the Board publishes its response after 26 October. Any narrowing of the band cuts costs for operators in the gap between the new trigger and the existing £250,000 floor. It also shifts the HBLB's assurance work onto a smaller pool of reports.