Italy revamps tax laws for online gaming

Companies will now pay a 22 percent tax on betting revenue

Italy.- The Italian Chamber of Deputies approved a series of amendments to Italian laws on gambling machines, and introduced new tax rules for online sports betting operators. The package of taxes is still subject to the final approval from the Chamber of Committees, and it could come into effect starting from January 1st.

Currently, operators active in the European country pay online turnover tax, depending on the type of wager placed by punters, which fluctuate from to 2 to 5 percent. But, last week the Italian Budget Committee approved some amendments to the Stability Law, and with these changes in 2016 the mentioned tax system will be replaced by a 22 percent on revenue.

According to the new rules, the tax on AWP (amusement with prizes machines) is increased from 13 percent to 17.5 percent. While the increase for VLTs (video lottery terminal) is up 0.5 percent to 5.5 percent. And taxes on online gaming are set at 20 percent of the net receipts.Operators are complaining about the increase in taxes and are also warning authorities that the changes could lead players to choose illegal internet gambling instead.