Italy to Raise Betting Taxes in October instead of the Turnover Tax

Italian players and bookmakers alike braced themselves for what was expected to be a significant hike in sports betting taxes. Italian regulators had prepared several variants, with all of them being worrisome for different reasons. Apparently, the worst-case scenario was averted, as the increase in betting taxes will not include the turnover tax. Gambling operators have dodged this bullet, but the legislative decree on sports betting will still come at a price.

More Money for Italian State Coffers

Winter is coming, and European economies, including the Italian one, expect hard times ahead. Lawmakers and governments are in dire need of money, and they look for a source of revenue wherever they can find one. Sports betting has always been the usual suspect when it came to raising more money, and the new laws will come into force on October 28. Lawmakers spent a lot of time on them, but now that they’ve been published in the country’s official Gazette, there is no going back.

The new rules are pretty straightforward, and the tax on retail betting revenue will increase to 20%. Online gambling operators are expected to pay even more, as the new rate is 24%, adding more pressure on their finances. Despite these changes, online bookmakers can be relieved knowing that the additional 1% turnover tax was averted. This would’ve complicated matters incredibly and placed a crippling financial burden on the back of gambling operators.

New Minimum and Maximum Betting Limits

The new sports betting law also brought sweeping changes regarding the accepted minimum and maximum bets. It states that punters can bet a minimum of €1, which doesn’t change much but enforces what some people might regard as an arbitrary limit. More importantly, the winnings for fixed odds bets will be limited to €50,000, which is a bit disappointing for high-rollers. Regular punters have little to worry about, as only a few players can brag about winning such huge amounts.

The new laws were published in the Official Gazette at the end of September so that they will come into force 30 days later, on October 28. They apply to everything from fixed odds bets to nonsporting events, while horseracing is excluded. The new laws target only the non-sports betting options approved by the Italian Customers and Monopoly Agency. The tax hike comes three years after introducing a total marketing ban that impacted domestic sports bodies and bookmakers alike.