SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Seeking to meet the qualifying criteria for its next EU sanctioned loan tranche, the Greek Syriza government has approved a fixed 35% Gross Gaming Revenue duty on licensed online betting operators.
Imposed loan sanctions by the EU require Greece to meet a surplus of 3.5% of its national budget, with the beleaguered country having to raise an additional €1.5 billion in taxes.
Greece therefore, retracts its scalable 30-35% online gambling duty and replaces it with a fixed rate of 35% GGR (to be implemented by January 2017) on all product verticals.
All of Greece’s 24 licensed international online gambling operators will have to adhere to the new tax charge, which will also be matched by state-owned gambling operator OPAP in order fulfill EU fair business competition practices.
Industry stakeholders have expected an increase in Greek online gambling duty for some time. In 2015 Greek news sources leaked details that Syriza financial advisors were planning to increase gambling duties to meet debt relief targets.
Syriza expects to raise circa €54 million from online gambling duties. Other business sectors to be hit with new tax hikes include heating oil, automotive, e-cigarettes, pay-TV, coffee, luxury goods, and alcohol.
As yet the leaderships’ of international gambling operators have yet to comment on the Greek online gambling tax increase, and whether the market conditions will be sustainable for long-term commercial growth
