New Greek online gambling bills to be introduced soon

Insider leaks that the Greek government is planning new legislation that could cut its punitive gambling tax rates were confirmed Friday by Minister of Finance Euclid Tsakalotos, who told the Ekathimerini newspaper that he intends to bring two bills to parliament before Christmas 2017.

Our readers may recall that 24 ‘temporarily’ licensed online gambling operators in the Greek market were included in the introduction of the across the board tax hike to 35 percent last year

The Greek government has since confirmed that it intends to proceed with plans to issue permanent online gambling licenses costing Euro 3 million each and of five-year duration, and that existing operators may be required to make a fresh application.

Tsakalotos said the bills would concern online games of chance and the regulation of the casino market. He was commenting after a meeting of the House Financial Affairs Committee, which discussed the revision of 2011 legislation on video lottery terminals (VLTs).

Tsakalotos defended the new regulations for VLTs, saying they could bring annual revenues of up to Euro 300 million to the state in the long term.

He added that the government has chosen to extend OPAP’s licence to operate VLTs to compensate for the reduction in the number of terminals it is allowed to operate – earlier this year the government arbitrarily cut this number by 10,000 machines to 25,000.

Whilst Tsakalotos did not reveal the detail in his bills, Ekathimerini reported earlier in the week that Economy Ministry insiders had revealed that tax cuts are envisaged on casino slot machines and gaming tables.

The sources revealed that consultations with gaming industry stakeholders had been held, persuading government to mull a mixed-rate system that may result in overall taxes on gambling turnover cut from the current punitive rates to at least 25 percent.

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