🇬🇧United Kingdom Gambling Licence: Requirements, Costs and Tax

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) charges an application fee and an annual fee for every operating licence. Both are set by fee band according to gross gambling yield (GGY): the application fee uses the projected GGY for the first year, the annual fee the actual GGY of the previous year. The first annual fee is due 30 days after the licence is issued and is reduced by 25 per cent. A remote casino, remote betting and remote gambling software licence are separate licences, each with its own fee.

• Remote gambling software licence (B2B): application £9,138 to £23,435 and annual fee £5,809 to £76,289 by annual gross value of sales. From 1 October 2026 the bands switch to GGY: application £7,212 to £99,446, annual £7,394 to £191,880.
• Operator licences (B2C): banded by GGY in the UKGC fee schedule linked below. Personal Management Licences for key roles are charged separately.

Fees are non-refundable if the application is refused. Duty (below) is charged on top of licence fees.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): UKGC licences and fees · UKGC remote gambling software licence fees

UK gambling duties are point-of-consumption taxes collected by HMRC on gambling by UK persons, wherever the operator is based.

• Remote Gaming Duty (RGD): 40 per cent of remote gaming profits (stakes from UK persons less winnings paid) for accounting periods on or after 1 April 2026. The rate was 21 per cent from April 2019 and 15 per cent before that.
• General Betting Duty (GBD): 15 per cent of gross betting profit on fixed-odds and totalisator bets, 3 per cent on financial spread bets, 10 per cent on other spread bets, and 15 per cent of betting-exchange commission charged to UK users.
• Pool Betting Duty: 15 per cent.

Operators must register with HMRC at least 31 days before they start taking bets from UK persons and file returns quarterly. Free bets and bonuses cannot be deducted from the duty base.

Live dealer studios and B2B suppliers. Studios and software houses supplying UKGC licensees hold a remote gambling software licence (fees above). A studio that hosts its own tables for other operators’ players also needs a remote casino operating licence. Duty is paid by the operator on its UK player yield, not by the supplier.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): HMRC: General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty and Remote Gaming Duty · UKGC remote gambling software licence

The Gambling Commission publishes an average processing time of 16 weeks for an operating licence application. The figure assumes the application is complete when submitted and is not guaranteed: incomplete or complex applications, suitability concerns, links to other applications or high demand extend it. Personal Management Licences for key staff are assessed in parallel.

Budget for the preparation phase as well: policies covering the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), an anti-money-laundering risk assessment, a system diagram of the remote equipment and its location, and test-house certification of games and platform against the Remote Technical Standards.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): UKGC licence application processing times

Any company can apply for a UKGC operating licence: there is no requirement to be incorporated in Great Britain, but section 69 of the Gambling Act 2005 requires an address in the UK where documents can be served, and it cannot be a PO box. What the Commission assesses is suitability: identity and ownership, finances and their source, integrity, and competence.

• Ownership disclosure: everyone with 3 per cent or more of the equity is named, and anyone with 10 per cent or more submits an Annex A personal declaration. Trusts and nominees are looked through to the beneficiaries.
• Key people: those responsible for overall management, strategy, finance, marketing, compliance, IT and the anti-money-laundering function each hold a Personal Management Licence (£370 application), applied for with the operating licence. The head of compliance should not normally hold another specified office.
• Finances: audited accounts or projections for a start-up, six months of bank statements, three-year profit and loss forecasts, proof and source of funding, and a credit report for overseas applicants. The Commission must be satisfied the operation is not financed by, and will not fund, crime.
• Remote applicants also file: an operational model map and end-to-end system diagram showing where the remote equipment sits, policies for the Remote Technical Standards and a testing strategy, software supply details, LCCP policies including complaints, ADR provider and self-exclusion, and an anti-money-laundering risk assessment and policy for remote casino, bingo and virtual-event betting.

Software suppliers hold a separate remote gambling software licence, and a studio or platform that hosts games for other operators’ players needs a host or casino licence as well.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): UKGC: apply for an operating licence (documents required) · UKGC: operating licences (eligibility and UK address) · UKGC: Personal Management Licence guide

Once licensed, the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) govern the business, and an operating licence runs indefinitely as long as the annual fee is paid before each anniversary.

• Regulatory returns: every operating licence holder files a return through eServices within 28 days of the end of each quarter (LCCP 15.3.1).
• Key events: changes in control, other regulators’ licence decisions, investigations, suspicious activity reports, security breaches affecting customer data or access for more than 12 hours, and new or ceased domains must be reported within five working days (LCCP 15.2.1).
• Technical assurance: games are tested by an approved test house before release, a games testing annual audit is filed within four weeks of the audit period, and an independent annual security audit against ISO/IEC 27001 is carried out, with major non-conformities reported.
• Anti-money laundering: a written money-laundering and terrorist-financing risk assessment that drives customer due diligence, with reports to the National Crime Agency and the licence-fee-band variation applied for before GGY exceeds the current band.
• Social responsibility: the LCCP codes on customer interaction, safer-gambling tools, marketing and self-exclusion (GAMSTOP for remote operators), plus the statutory levy and stake limits introduced under the 2023 White Paper.

Duty compliance sits with HMRC separately: quarterly returns for Remote Gaming Duty and General Betting Duty.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): LCCP 15.3.1 general and regulatory returns · LCCP 15.2.1 reporting key events · UKGC: games test, annual audit and security audit reports

A UK licence does not require a UK company. Many licensees operate through companies in Malta, Gibraltar or the Isle of Man and register for UK duties, keeping a UK correspondence address for service. Operators that do incorporate in the UK use a private limited company registered at Companies House, which can be formed in a day for a small fee, with no minimum share capital.

• Corporation tax: 25 per cent main rate on profits above £250,000, 19 per cent small profits rate up to £50,000, with marginal relief between (2026 rates).
• Gambling duties are charged on UK player activity wherever the company is based, so incorporation location changes corporation tax and substance, not duty.
• Practicalities: UK banking and payment acquiring expect the licence to be granted or pending, and the Commission asks for the location of all remote equipment, so decide hosting before the application.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): GOV.UK: Corporation Tax rates and allowances · UKGC: operating licences (no incorporation requirement, UK address)

• 1 April 2026 — Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21 per cent to 40 per cent of remote gaming profits.
• 1 October 2026 — UKGC fee bands for remote gambling software licences move from gross value of sales to gross gambling yield.