Sweden’s BOS Chief Rebukes ATG Proposal to Raise Gambling Taxes, Calling It “Self-Harm”

Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary general of the Sweden Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS), has sharply criticised AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth’s call for Sweden to raise taxes on online gambling operators. Hoffstedt characterised the proposal as an act of “self-harm” that would damage the country’s regulated market.

Skarplöth’s suggestion, made earlier this week, urged Sweden to mirror the UK’s recent decision to increase tax levels on licensed online gambling operators—while excluding the horse racing sector from any such rise. In the UK’s autumn budget last week, the government confirmed that remote general betting duty will jump from 15% to 25% in April 2027, and remote gaming duty will move from 21% to 40% in April 2026. Exemptions were granted to horse racing, self-service betting terminals, spread betting and pool bets.

Hoffstedt strongly opposed the idea, warning that increasing online gambling taxes would worsen what he described as one of Europe’s most significant illegal gambling markets. “Raising the tax on online casino in a market with one of Europe’s largest black markets is not precision, it’s self-harm,” he said. “Higher taxes don’t reduce risk; they push players offshore, weaken consumer protection, and shrink the regulated ecosystem.”

Channelisation at Further Risk

The BOS chief emphasised that his primary concern was channelisation—the proportion of players who choose licensed operators—and the likelihood that higher taxes would push this rate lower. Last month, ATG stated that online gambling channelisation in Sweden ranged between 74% and 85% in Q3 2025. Spelinspektionen, the national regulator, estimated the 2024 channelisation rate at 85%, a slight decrease from 2023.

These figures remain below the Swedish government’s long-term goal of 90%, a target established in 2019 when the regulated iGaming market launched. According to Hoffstedt, further tax pressure would widen the divide between licensed and unlicensed operators, accelerating the channelisation decline. “The solution for problem gamblers is not higher taxation; it is regulation and that starts with channelisation,” he stated. “Raising taxes is the very opposite of such responsible taking policy. If the goal is channelisation and safety, then increasing the gap between licensed and unlicensed operators is the opposite of responsible policy.”

Questioning the Focus on iGaming

Hoffstedt also challenged the rationale behind singling out online gambling for tax increases. The BOS recently released research indicating that gambling-related harm has not grown since Sweden opened its legal online market in January 2019. According to BOS data, 1.3% of Sweden’s population had a Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) score of three or more in Q4 2024, down from 2.2% when the market began—despite the increased accessibility of online gambling options.

“All forms of gambling appear equally harmless for those without risk,” he noted. “But all types of gambling appear to be dangerous for those who already have gambling problems, with the highest share of problem gamblers found within the lottery segment.”

Call for Horse Racing Tax Instead

Reflecting on Skarplöth’s proposal, Hoffstedt argued that if Sweden were to consider a tax rise, it would be more “rational” to target horse racing betting rather than online casinos. He pointed out that horse betting has unusually high channelisation rates, between 98% and 99%. “The only exception of the low Swedish gambling channelisation is horse betting,” he said. “That particular segment of the gambling market has a channelisation between 98% and 99% percent. It would from a channelisation and consumer protection point of view be more rational to do the opposite, i.e. raising the tax on horse betting and lowering the tax on everything else.”

BOS’ stance follows its recent criticism of a proposal from Svenska Spel and ATG to impose a nationwide ban on online bonuses. Hoffstedt accused the two operators of attempting to expand their market dominance, repeating concerns that a ban would drive players toward unlicensed websites offering bonuses without proper safety frameworks.

By fLEXI tEAM