Ireland is considering an increase to its 2% betting duty as part of the 2027 budget, and bookmakers are already warning about further shop closures, job losses, and competition from unlicensed operators. The government is looking at a possible increase ahead of the Oct. 6 budget announcement, without having confirmed a new rate or formally committed to raising the tax at all.
Bookmakers in Ireland currently pay 2% of the value of bets placed by customers, covering both retail and online sports betting. The duty applies to turnover, so operators pay it whether an individual bet ends up profitable or not. The rate hasn’t moved since 2019, when the government doubled it from 1%.
The Department of Finance has previously estimated that going from 2% to 3% could bring in an extra €53 million a year, with a smaller increase to 2.5% raising roughly €26.5 million. Those figures were published in July 2025 and don’t account for any changes in betting turnover or customer behavior since.
Ireland’s Social Democrats proposed a 5% rate back in May, with the extra revenue earmarked for sports and cultural activities in disadvantaged communities. The opposition party put the potential yield above €165 million annually, funding grants for sports clubs and €150 sports and cultural activity vouchers for children. The government hasn’t taken up that rate.
The Irish Bookmakers Association has urged Finance Minister Simon Harris to reject any increase in its Budget 2027 submission. The trade group blames the 2019 increase for the closure of 222 betting shops and the loss of around 1,000 retail jobs, and says the number of betting shops in Ireland has fallen from 1,385 in 2008 to 643, with 47 closures during 2025 and another 41 this year. That longer decline also reflects the industry’s move online and other operating costs.
Retail bookmakers made €25 million in net profit during 2025 while paying €45 million in betting duty, according to the IBA, against €87 million in profit and €28 million in duty back in 2018. Further increases could push operators into cutting the odds they offer, passing costs straight to bettors, or closing more shops, the association warned. It also argued that higher taxes make unlicensed offshore platforms more attractive, since those face neither the same tax nor the same regulatory obligations.
Flutter Entertainment, which owns Paddy Power, has separately written to Harris opposing an increase. The company is already reviewing up to 100 Paddy Power shops across Britain and Ireland, with around 400 jobs potentially affected. The IBA reckons at least 40 of those closures could fall in Ireland, though Flutter hasn’t confirmed which locations are going.
Former Paddy Power CEO Stewart Kenny has meanwhile called for a separate 40% tax on online casino and gaming revenue. Kenny and several gambling addiction specialists wrote to Harris in September arguing that Ireland should follow the UK’s Remote Gaming Duty increase from 21% to 40%. Ireland currently applies 23% VAT to gross gambling yield from online gaming, with the 2% betting duty covering a different tax base, and Kenny’s proposal targets online casino products specifically rather than the sports betting duty under consideration.
A separate pool betting duty is also coming as part of the 2027 budget. The government announced that measure last year after warning that changes to the gambling licensing framework could push operators to restructure their businesses around existing betting duty. The Department of Finance said it would consult stakeholders on how the new charge should be designed.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland took over betting licensing in February 2026, with the new remote betting regime taking effect in July. It has since started acting against operators serving Irish customers without authorization, Stake and several prediction market platforms among them. Any tax increase would therefore land on licensed businesses still adjusting to the new regulatory framework.
Harris presents Budget 2027 on Oct. 6, with the government planning €7 billion in additional public spending and a €1.5 billion tax package. The final betting duty rate and the structure of the separate pool betting charge both remain unannounced.