The Greek parliament has passed legislation that will reform the country’s gaming laws. A bill in the Invest in Greece package allows operators to continue offering random number generator (RNG) games such as slots, an offering omitted from an earlier draft.
This proposed prohibition of RNG games had proved particularly controversial, prompting operators to threaten a legal challenge against the ban.
The final bill also lowers the license fee to €3 million (US$3.343 million), down from €5 million, and sets a 35 percent gross revenue tax for licensees. A 20 percent corporate tax will also be applied before the 35 percent revenue tax is subtracted, in a move that strategic consultancy Regulus Partners said would effectively make legal avoidance of tax “impossible.”
In addition, the 24 online operators who were issued temporary Greek licenses in 2011 will be allowed to continue operating under these licenses until March 31, 2020, then must reapply. The bill also blocks operators that were placed on the Hellenic Gaming Commission’s blacklist of operators in the past 12 months from applying for a license.
The Invest in Greece package passed 165-122. It will now go to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos to be signed into law.
Meanwhile, the Greek Ministry of Development and Investment last week released a proposed legislation on the licensing and taxation of online gambling. The bill would allow Greek online sites to offer mobile sports betting and casino games, adds slots for the first time, and reduces the cost of an online license while increasing taxation.
The ministry stated: “With this legislative measure, we are ensuring healthy competition between market participants, guaranteeing the safe participation of the players and attracted. We believe this move will also increase the revenue paid to the Greek state through the licensing process. It improves player protection by shifting a significant portion of them from illegal online gambling networks to legal and fully regulated networks.”
The fee to obtain an iGaming license is €3 million (US$3.346 million), down from the €4 million proposed in 2018. It will also increase the term of a license from five to seven years and require the payment of €10,000 to apply for the licensing process.
Operators must be located in Greece or in another EU country but with the server storing game data located in Greece.
Revenues generated by online games and sports betting will continue to be taxed at 35 percent, however, corporation income tax is likely to increase.
