Italian Online Slots After Clearance to Danish Law?

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One of the main topics of discussion at the EiG in Milan last week was the clearance from the European Commission to the Danish law liberalizing the market that was previously subject to a State monopoly.

The reason why the Danish gambling bill had been challenged was the different tax regime between online and land-based casinos. The European Commission reviewed the online market and held that the competition from illegal operators makes necessary the adoption of a lower tax rate in order to fight against illegal operators. In particular, such lower tax rate can be meant to be a “state aid” (which is prohibited by EU laws), but is in line with EU regulations since “the positive effects of the liberalization of the market outweigh the distortions of competition brought about by the measure”.

This clearance is welcomed also by operators interested in the Italian gaming market. Indeed, according to AAMS regulations online slot machines had to be launched in the Italian gaming market around the month of October 2011. However, videolottery operators challenged the launch of such games because of the most favorable tax regime of online slots if compared to land-based videolotteries.

This decision should foster the launch of online slots shortly which might increase the interest for Italian licenses of operators that have not applied for an Italian license so far because of the uncertainty around the launch of these games.

Do you want to know more on the above? Feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio.

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