Poland ready to embrace foreign operators
Country likely to adopt Danish-style regulatory model to attract Europe's heavy hitters
Poland finally appears ready to open up its online gambling market with the country’s government understood to be close to adopting a new regulatory framework based on the Danish model.
Earlier this week Poland’s minister of finance Pawe?? Sza??amacha said a new Gambling Act was under development and could even be published before the end of this month.
And according to sources in Poland, the new Act would likely bear a strong resemblance to the framework adopted by Denmark, with all verticals regulated and taxed in the region of 20% GGR.
A switch to a Danish-style licensing system would be a stark improvement on the current Polish model, which only permits online sports betting at a restrictive turnover-based tax of 12%, although this is lower for horseracing.
The Polish government is thought to have been impressed by the number of licensees in Denmark as well as its suppression of the unlicensed market. Poland currently has five licensed operators with approximately 90% of the market estimated to be in the hands of unlicensed players.
Poland has been looking at amending its Gambling Act since the start of the year but has now decided to speed-up the process in order to generate much needed tax revenues.
This week Sza??amacha announced Poland was to make a payment of PLN500 (?95) to each family with two or more children, with the cost of the handout to be paid for by an increase in gambling-related tax receipts.
“We expect this document [Gambling Act] to be ready for parliamentary work in April,” Sza??amacha said in a press conference announcing the payment. “It should turn the negative trend in taxation amounts from recent years.”
As the ruling party in Poland, Prawo i Sprawiedliwo???? (Law and Justice) has the majority in the Polish parliament and therefore is expected to be able to push the new Act through quickly.