The British Horseracing Authority has called a strike on 10 September with all race meetings on the day cancelled as it tries to fight back against potential tax rises which would see the current 15% tax rate paid by bookmakers on racing increased by 6%, bringing the current general betting duty (GBD) to 21% on a par with online games of chance under the remote gaming duty (RGD).

A Treasury spokesperson said: ‘The UK’s gambling tax system is outdated and inconsistent which is why we are consulting on to level the playing field so all online gambling pays the same rate, working closely with the horse racing sector.

‘We have no plans to change the way bets made at the racecourse are taxed, which are exempt from duty.’

The announcement comes as British Racing’s Axe the Racing Tax campaign gears up in advance of the Budget this autumn. The campaign is urging the government to axe the Treasury’s proposal to bring existing online betting duties into one single rate hitting the country’s second-largest spectator sport that supports 85,000 jobs and which is attended by almost five million people each year.

Four scheduled race meetings on 10 September – the day before the start of the four-day St Leger festival at Doncaster Racecourse – at Lingfield Park, Carlisle, Uttoxeter and Kempton Park will no longer take place that day and have been rescheduled to dates either side of the strike.

On the same day, the sport will host a major campaign event in Westminster where senior leaders will be joined by owners, trainers and jockeys to highlight the threat of the Treasury’s proposal on an industry worth £4.1bn to the UK economy.

Brant Dunshea, chief executive at the British Horseracing Authority said: ‘We have decided to take the unprecedented decision to cancel our planned racing fixtures on 10 September to highlight to government the serious consequences of the Treasury’s tax proposals which threaten the very future of our sport.

‘British racing is already in a precarious financial position and research has shown that a tax rise on racing could be catastrophic for the sport and the thousands of jobs that rely on it in towns and communities across the country.

‘Our message to government is clear: axe the racing tax and back British racing.’

A consultation on the Treasury’s proposal to charge a new, single remote gambling duty was published in April and closed for comment on 21 July, with the government stating at the time that there was little ‘justification for remote activities being subject to different rates’.

‘The differences in the duty rates have historically been driven by the balance the government has struck between the impacts on the sector, raising revenue and responding to regulatory change,’ the Treasury noted in the consultation.

‘Having reviewed that balance, the government believes that, given the common features across remote forms of gambling, there is no longer a strong rationale to maintain this historical distinction.’

Analysis commissioned by the British Horseracing Authority claimed that aligning the current 15% tax rate paid by bookmakers on racing with online games of chance such as slot machines  – currently taxed at 21% – by equalising all remote gambling duties, could hit the sport with a £330m revenue hit to the industry in the first five years, putting 2,752 jobs at risk in the first year alone.

Paul Johnson, chief executive of the National Trainers Federation, said: ‘Cancelling fixtures is a huge sacrifice by racing and should serve as a stark reminder to the government of the impact its tax raid will have on our sport.

‘Across Britain communities will be robbed of a vital social, cultural and economic asset if the Treasury and No10 proceed with this tax grab.

‘We call on the government to set an enlightened tax regime that will allow the sport to thrive before we reach the point of no return.’

Gambling taxes currently raise a total of £3.4bn in excise duties a year.

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