Spanish house proposes gambling tax cut

The Congress of Deputies announced a proposal that would cut gambling taxes in Spain by 20 per cent.

Spain.- The Congress of Deputies of Spain has introduced a proposal that would decrease gambling taxes by 20 per cent. The measure aims to make the local market more attractive to gambling companies.

The plans proposed by the lower house of the national government include a tax cut on online fixed-odds sports betting, exchange betting and fixed-odds horseracing revenue from 25 per cent to 20 per cent.

While the proposal is in its early stages – and awaits further debates and discussions in parliament – it would help to make Spain’s market more attractive to gambling companies, the Congress of Deputies said.

Last week, it was reported that experts said that there is still plenty of room for growth in Spain’s gambling sector, with predictions that it could soon be worth a billion euros a year. Last year’s figures show that gross gaming revenue for online sports betting and casino games totalled US$687 million, driven by sports. Christian Tirabassi, senior partner at consultancy firm Ficom Leisure, said that Spain is on the radar of the international market. During Betting on Football, a conference that took place in London, he said: “I definitely see the market growing, both in online and retail betting and think this market will easily hit one billion to 1.5 billion euros in the next three to five years.”