Greece is Reconsidering the Online Gambling Tax Hike

Greece is Reconsidering the Online Gambling Tax Hike

Greece is Reconsidering the Online Gambling Tax HikeEarlier this month, Greece made an announcement about plans to increase the tax on online gambling.  Of course, this did not sit well with online gambling operators as it would double the licensing fee and increase the tax to 35%.  Furthermore, gambling companies would no longer be able to deduct the gambling tax from their corporate tax obligations. However, today Greece is reconsidering the Online Gambling Tax Hike by taking out the double taxation clause.

Even though this is a victory for gambling operators, the Ministry of Development and Investment still plans increasing the tax. According to Pay Per Head Sportsbook news, Greece still intends on increasing the online tax rate to 35%.  In addition, they still intend on increasing the licensing fees for casinos, poker rooms and sports betting operations.

The only change will be that companies will still be able to deduct the gambling tax from their corporate tax. Later this week, the new online gambling tax hike proposal will go to the Greek House of Representative for approval.

The Future of Online Gambling in Greece

Now that Greece is Reconsidering the Online Gambling Tax Hike, what does this mean for the online gambling industry in Greece? Ever since their economic crisis, Greece has been looking to increase their gambling revenue.  Thus, they came out with an Online Gambling tax Hike that would double their revenue.  The new tax changes would reduce would increase the online sports betting license fee from €1m to €3m.  In addition, Online casinos and poker licenses would also increase from €1m to €2m.

Originally, the 35% flat tax came about so they would not have to put a cap on available gambling licenses.  This is because they took a look at the trouble Germany got in for placing arbitrary caps on licenses.  Therefore, the solution was to have high gambling taxes to keep most gambling companies out of Greece.

The Greek government is looking to increase their annual online betting revenue to €73 million.  Whether they are able to meet this goal will be difficult to determine even with the increase in taxes.

Recently, OPAP lost its gambling license and gambling industry analysts believe this will allow the Greek gambling industry to grow. Furthermore, the OTE Group did confirm that they plan to offer online gambling.  This will be done with a partnership with betting operator Intralot.

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