Chancellor’s gambling tax hike will cost thousands of jobs and devastate Britain’s high streets, warns BGC

Betting shops and casinos avoid 40 per cent machine tax, but BGC still warns of closures The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has expressed deep disappointment and concern at the Chancellor’s decision to raise Machine Games Duty (MGD) to 25 per cent, warning that at this rate, EY modelling indicates almost 9,000 people could lose their jobs and almost 1,000 betting shops and casinos could close or be at serious risk of closure.