An unrecognisable woman playing a slot machine in a social club

Reforming gambling taxation: How to lift half a million children out of poverty

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A key priority for the government’s upcoming child poverty strategy should be to remove the two-child limit and scrap the household benefit cap.

These measures would cost around £3 billion and, while we recognise there are fiscal constraints facing the government, there are options on the table right now which could meet these costs and support 1.6 million children to live better lives. 

Gambling taxation is an area ripe for reform. It is inescapable that gambling causes serious harm and a significant share of profits derive from the most frequent users, who are at most risk of harmful patterns of play, often linked to addiction or financial distress. It is only fair, therefore, that these companies, which are exempt from any form of VAT and often based overseas, contribute more to help wider social aims where they can – and the industry is booming.

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