Ireland approves new maximum stake for gambling machines

The government of Ireland has approved a new maximum stake and a new maximum payout for gambling machines.

Ireland.- Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan introduced to Cabinet new changes that will see a new maximum stake of €5 for gambling machines. The initiative was approved on Tuesday by the local government.

Flanagan’s changes include a new €500 limit as maximum payout for electronic gaming or slot machines, Irish Times reported. These limits were last updated in 1956 and the government argued that they needed to modernise the local framework.

David Stanton, Minister of State in the Department of Justice, said: “Modifying stake and prize amounts is the only current role of the Minister for Justice and Equality with regard to gaming machines. The proposal had been to raise these amounts to €10 and €750 respectively.

“However, during the Dáil committee stage debate on July 10, 2019, on the modernisation of the stake and prize amounts, some Deputies felt that the proposed amounts were excessive. The Minister of State undertook to consider the matter and now proposes €5 and €500.”

Bookies get betting tax relief

Last month, Ireland introduced a new measure that will see relief from betting duty of €50k a calendar year for local bookies. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe says that this initiative will help small independent bookmakers in Ireland.

The measure establishes that bookmakers in the country won’t be subject to pay taxes on the first €50k in bets that they take in a year, Irish Times reported. Donohoe said that this was subject to EU state aid rules.

While the aid increases to €50k, the tax strategy group from the department had suggested €2 million a year to help those bookmakers compete against the leading operators like Ladbrokes or Paddy Power.