Spanish Government approves draft on gaming regulations

The Spanish Government’s Council of Ministers have approved the draft bill on new gaming regulations and have committed to submitting the bill to Parliament within the next few weeks.
The Bill will regulate, for the first time, the various gaming activities that take place within Spain over the Internet and via other electronic channels such as mobile.  The regulations which exclude the lottery, define the various gaming activities and requirements to be met.
Prior authorisation or licensing of gaming operators will come into force and as such the Act makes provision for the formation of a regulatory body within the State Administration Services, the Spanish Gaming Commission [Comisión del Juego], which will be responsible for monitoring operator compliance, issuing of licences and other related functions including granting prior permission for advertising, promotional and sponsorship activities carried out by authorised or licenced operators.
It is still unclear at this stage what model the various gaming activities will be taxed at however, all revenue collected will be given to the autonomous regions.
The First Vice-President of the Government confirmed that online gaming “is undertaken regularly and not subject to taxation but, once it is regulated, the corresponding taxes and duties will be established”.
Transgressions of the Act and unauthorised operators will be dealt with by hefty fines ranging from Euro 100 000 to Euro 50 000 000.
If the bill passes through Parliament, it will progress to the Senate and then to the European Commission, although industry pundits don’t expect the bill to reach the commission until June or July 2011.

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