New Portugese online gambling law imminent?

The long wait on the finalisation of Portugal’s online gambling laws may be over, if speculation in local media is to be believed.

Several reports suggest that the reforms, which have languished in the government’s Council of Ministers for months, may be implemented before the end of February.

The last-known content of the bill included:

* Taxation based on gross gaming revenue on a sliding scale (dependent on gross income) between 15 percent for operators below Euro 5 million and 30 percent for operators over Euro 10 million.

* Sport betting operators get a better deal at tax of just 8 to 16 percent, again dependent on GGR.

* A more reasonable and pragmatic revision of an original provision requiring operators to open their
servers for inspection at any time by regulatory inspectors.

* Operator can accept deposits from EU-regulated and based credit institutions.

* A more open (as opposed to ring-fenced a la France and Italy) approach to player pools.