OPAP hit with 21.6m tax bill
Greek monopoly says it has a "strong argument" to appeal a 21.6m charge which dates back to FY2010
Greek betting monopoly OPAP has been hit with a retroactive tax bill of approximately 21.6m with the firm having lodged an appeal to get the amount to be paid reduced.
OPAP yesterday said a tax audit of its 2010 fiscal year resulted in incremental taxes amounting to 29.6m, of which just 8m was recorded in that year’s financial results.
The remaining balance of 21.6m is to be detailed within the firm’s Q2 2014 financial results, which are reported tomorrow, however the company said it had already appealed for compensation from the Greek Ministry of Finance.
“[OPAP] believes that it has strong arguments to be justified before the directorate thus significantly reducing the total amount of total taxes and surcharges,” a company statement read.
OPAP claimed 50% of the outstanding amount of additional taxes and surcharges should be repaid to the firm, which tomorrow is expected to report a double-digit growth in revenues following the launch of a GTECH-powered online sportsbook in June.
Last month the company offered voluntary redundancy to 75% of the workforce of its OPAP Services subsidiary “ around 600 members of staff “ with the company revealing to eGaming Review at the time that it was looking to shed “some fat” to increase efficiencies.
The news came two months after OPAP revealed it had cut 140 jobs as part of a corporate restructure put into place by new CEO Kamil Ziegler, who took control of the firm after private equity fund Emma Delta finalised the purchase of the Greek government’s stake in the operator.
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