Spanish government proposes cutting gambling tax to 20%
Budget bill suggests cutting tax rate by five points to make Spain a more attractive market to operators
The Spanish government has proposed lowering the tax rate for online operators to 20% in its 2018 parliamentary budget, in an effort to make the jurisdiction more attractive to operators.
Minister for finance Cristobal Montoro presented the bill to the Congress of Deputies this week, suggesting parliament lowered the tax rate by five percentage points.
However, the proposal will face a number of political hurdles and need to be passed by both houses of parliament to be enforced.
If approved the new measure could take effect from 1 July 2018.
Operators in Spain have complained about the relatively high 25% rate since the market’s launch in 2012, but interest in the market has grown and revenues in Q4 17 grew 38%.
In November 2017, director general for the Spanish gambling regulator (DGOJ), Juan Espinosa Garcia, told EGR it was working on a business case to lower taxes in the jurisdiction.
Beatriz Cuevas Almoguera, principal associate at Garrigues law firm, said: “They are willing to reduce the tax rates, but it is one thing what the regulator wants and another thing is what they are actually able to do.
“The Spanish government and parliament has to approve such a change and the government in Spain is a minority, so they have to reach an agreement with other parties and it isn’t that easy.”
The DGOJ opened its latest licensing window in December 2017 in the hope that the market will grow even further in 2018.