Gambling tax petition to be presented in Portuguese parliament

ugal’s National Association of Online Gamblers (ANAon) has confirmed their intention to present the countries parliament with a petition to lower its tax rate on online gambling. The 4,600 signature strong petition which will be presented to the Assembly of the Republic and the Portuguese finance ministry, aims to persuade the government to reduce the current 30% tax rate imposed on local online licensed operators, which many see as overly punitive and create a fairer market for all. Online sports betting companies operating in Portugal currently pay taxes of 8% on their betting turnover and a 16% tax rate on their betting revenue. In the petition ANAon contend that the current gambling legislation and taxation regime, in force since 2015 has failed based on the low number of gaming operators entering the Portuguese market. It calls for a review of online gambling law and a change in the taxation model of sports betting to focus on the gross revenue of operators rather than the volume of bets placed. To date, officials at the Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) have only issued seven online gaming licences and three sports betting licences to operators entering the Portuguese market. Despite this low number SRIJ officials have confirmed a 13.7% increase in revenue for the first three months of the year, rising from US$30m in Q4 2016 to US$35m in Q1 2017.