Czech online gambling operators cry “no fair” on tax

Online gambling operators in the Czech Republic were sounding off this week on the draconian taxation burden they have to carry, making it difficult to compete in a global market full of hungry competitors.

Last year brought moderate success to the sector, but operators point out that their retuirns could have been far healthier with a more benevolent tax regime than that which currently lumbers them with a discriminatory special 30 percent tax in addition to other corporate taxes and requirements to contribute to social programs.

Lubomír Jezek, spokesperson for one major gambling company, summed the situation up in a media interview, saying: “It is an incredible situation. We have to pay all the fees and taxes on one hand, and, on the other, we have to compete with [offshore] bookmakers who do not have any such obligations to pay taxes here.”

Jezek added that competing offshore companies have larger adspend as a consequence, and use this to target Czech players at the expense of local gambling operators. Repreated complaints to the government have apparently not produced any relief, adding to the aggravation of local operators.

The government’s response smacks of political stonewalling, with Czech Finance Ministry spokesman Jakub Haas claiming that a proposal to reform the law and create common principles of taxation across all types of gambling had been under consideration for several years but had not progressed.

Related and similar