Gaming revolution in Italy: all the new rules in force since January 2020
Written by Editorial Board
What changes for public gaming following the provisions contained in the tax decree and in the 2020 financial budget.
With the tax decree now converted into law and the Budget bill that will come into force from 2020, January, the 1st, we can take stock of what will change for Italian gaming in 2020, in the light of the provisions of the two final measures, by now.
THE TAX DECREE - The text provides for the extension of the tenders for betting and bingo concessions, the postponement of the start of remote slots, the establishment of the single Register of gaming operators (to which the holders of the venues to refill remote gaming accounts must register, but not the operators offering gaming without cash winning) and the "undercover" agent, the block of payments to subjects without concession and the fight against evasion in the betting sector. Actually, there is also an article on the increase in the Preu for slots and Vlts, but the financial budget repeals it, having set new withdrawal limits, together with the reduction in the payout. In addition, the arrival of the receipt lottery has been postponed to 2020, July, the 1th.
THE BUDGET LAW - Gaming provisions provide for the further taxation of the winnings at the Vlts (from €200 up, we will pay a rate of 20 percent, starting from 15 January 2020), but also those on lotteries, Win for Life, Win for Life Gold and SiVinceTutto (20 percent of those from €500 up, starting from 1 March 2020), as well as the tender for devices concessions. Preu of slots is increased (23.85 percent until the end of 2020, 24 from 2021 onwards) and Vlts (8.5 percent until the end of 2020, 8.6 percent since 2021), to modify (and repeal) the provisions contained in the Tax Decree, but the minimum payout for slots (65 percent) and Vlts (83 percent) is reduced.
THE WORK OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE - Even if the text of the financial budget is unchangeable, it continues, as the parliamentary procedure foresees, its study by the Chamber's Budget Committee, which must also study the amendments (all intended to be rejected).
Paolo Trancassini (FdI) expresses his astonishment to the colleagues of the Movimento 5 stelle for the changed attitude on some delicate subjects they have always claimed as 'historical battles' ", such as "for example, the subject of pathological gambling addiction" And he mentions how "through provisions added in previous measures, they believed they could definitively defeat this serious problem", while "the draft budget for 2020, instead, plans to collect more revenue from gaming winnings to use them for the needs of the ministry of cultural heritage rather than using them for the recovery of subjects affected by gambling addiction".
Mauro D'Attis, Forza Italia, criticizes "the way in which the taxation on games has been set, affecting legal gaming without the greater revenue deriving from the taxation of gaming winnings being used to remedy the damages caused by gaming addiction". On the contrary, Luigi Marattin (Italia Viva), asks "how can we say that the measure in question leads to an increase in taxes" and invites the government representative to "clearly indicate what the expected revenue is for the tax measures introduced, such as the Robin tax, the sugar tax, the plastic tax and the increase in taxes on games and tobaccos".
The amendment by Mauro D'Attis (Forza Italia) is with no hope of approval, but with political "weight", which brings into play gaming: "For the strengthening of the control purposes on games and to ensure the certainty of the withdrawal, in order to achieve the progressive objective of reducing the use of cash, from 1 January 2020 the marketing of public gaming on the physical network may also take place through a prepaid card, issued by the concessionaires registered in the single register of public gaming operators, pursuant to article 27 of decree-law 26 October 2019, n.124, exclusively usable for the purchase of gaming services marketed by the issuing entity in the points of sale authorized by the Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli and part of the physical network of the same. The prepaid card can be purchased by the player at the concessionaires' points of sale for an amount not exceeding two hundred and fifty euros and can be equipped with the functions of memorizing the bets recorded by the national totalizer, having the legal effects of the participation receipt and refill for amounts corresponding to the winnings achieved, without prejudice to the applicability of the current anti-money laundering rules at the time of withdrawal of any sum from the card itself. Concessionaires notify to the Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli the start of the marketing of public gaming via prepaid card by transmitting the specifications of the installed system".