Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein to issue five online table game licences
Schleswig-Holstein’s state legislature has approved a law confirming there will be five online table game licences and a tax rate of up to 44 per cent on gross gaming revenue.
Germany.- The state legislature, or landtag, in Schleswig-Holstein has passed a law that implements Germany’s Fourth Intrerstate Treaty on Gambling.
The federal legislation, which came into force in July, introduced a national regulated market for igaming and sports betting, but allowed each state to decide between two models for the regulation of online table games.
States can choose between granting a monopoly on online table games, normally falling to the state lottery, or to issue the same number of licences as the number of land-based casinos in the state. Schleswig-Holstein, Germany’s northernmost state, has opted for the latter. It has five land-based casinos and will therefore allow five online table game licences.
One of the five licences will go to state-run Spielbank Schleswig-Holstein, which leaves just four available. Christian Democratic Union parliamentary secretary Hans-Jörn Arp said these would be issued following “reputable and strict criteria”.
The tax rate established in the new state legislation will see online table game revenue of up to €300,000 a month taxed at 34 per cent. Revenue between €300,000 and €750,000 will be taxed at 39 per cent and revenue surpassing €750,000 44 per cent.
Arp said: “It was important to us to prevent the creation of a new Las Vegas and to control exactly who is playing what and how the data and money flows.”
He also called for Germany’s states to support the new federal regulator that’s been set up in Sachsen-Anhalt, but which to date has yet to issue any licences.
