Tax online gambling across EU suggests special committee

European Union-wide taxation on online gambling came out of a public hearing arranged by the European Parliament special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering whose focus is on the removal of financial control that Mafia organisations are perceived to have over banking institutions in the European Union.

“Gambling is just a perfect tool for money laundering, because it is complicated to chase money flows. The major issue is that often online gambling is tax free, so it is a cheap resource for organised crime: the very first step is to tax this flow of money”, said Ingo Fiedler, professor at the University of Hamburg.

Other suggestions included those from MEP Mario Borghezio – EFD, IT who raised the issue of combating tax havens, while MEP Bill Newton-Dunn – ALDE, UK said EU countries should be applying the same standards when it comes to monitoring the clients of banks, a point supported by Rene Wack, chair of the European Banking Industry Committee who commented: “Banks should know high-risk clients and follow their activities through a unique European database for all the banks of the member states.”

The CRIM special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering was set up in March 2012 further to the adoption, on 25 October 2011, of the European Parliament resolution on organised crime.

It is tasked to assess the impact of mafia-type activities on the EU’s economy and society and to recommend legislation and other measures to equip the EU to respond to these threats at an International, European and national level.

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