Lithuania: MPs back new tax on lottery tickets

Lithuania’s lottery ticket tax would raise funds for sports.

Lithuania.- The government has voted in favour of a new bill that would impose a 13 per cent tax on lottery ticket sales to raise funds for national sports development. Lottery operators currently pay an 8 per cent budget allocation to sport and 5 per cent tax, but a new amendment would change that to a 13 per cent direct tax. 

Lottery operators will no longer pay 8 per cent of ticket revenue direct to sports. Instead, funding for the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee and the Lithuanian Paralympic Committee will come from the government budget.

The changes are due to enter force in July 2022 with the aim of funding sports development ahead of the World Championships in 2022 and the 2024 Olympics. The government has said that the changes would mean sports organisations receive “several million euros” more than the currently expected funding of €20.9m for 2022. 

Lithuania’s National Lottery is operated by Olifėja, which has a five-year contract with Scientific Games for instant ticket printing.

Lithuania has also been considering tax changes for land-based casino and slot gaming. The Ministry of Finance’s bill proposes changing the way that tax is calculated for land-based slots and table games. Instead of the current system of a fixed fee per table or machine, tax would be calculated based on gross gaming revenue (GGR).

The parliament, the Seimas, has also approved the first reading of a bill to allow online-only gaming licensees in Lithuania. That would end a requirement for online operators to have a land-based presence or partner with a land-based operator.