Portugal online gambling proposals approved
Government given 180 days to enact legislation after Parliamentary approval allows for regulation to be pushed through
A regulated Portuguese online gambling market took a step closer last week after the country’s parliament gave the green light to proposals which would bring to an end its current state-owned monopolised system.
Following a vote of authorisation in the Portuguese parliament on Friday, a draft bill will now be drawn up containing details such as licensing requirements, tax rate obligations and sanctions for unregulated operators.
While precise levels of taxation are yet to be agreed it has been confirmed that a two-tiered regime will be put into place, with games of chance and mutual horse racing betting to be taxed at between 15% and 30% of total revenue and sports betting revenue subject to a tax rate of between 8% and 16%.
The tax rates had previously raised the ire of industry bodies such as the Remote Gambling Association who also questioned the proposed award of 27% of online tax receipts to current monopoly Santa Casa da Misericórdia.
It is widely expected that licences issued by Portugal’s Gambling Inspection Service (GIS) will remain valid for three years at a time and those wishing to secure a licence must have a subsidiary or land-based establishment based in Portugal.
Sanctions are to be separated into three tiers with fines ranging from between 5,000 and 1m depending on the severity of the offence, and the GIS will also reserve the right to suspend an operator’s licence should it be deemed necessary to do so.
The government has been given a period of 180 days from the day of the vote in which to complete the process and enact a bill, meaning legislation must be in place by the end of January otherwise the authorisation will expire.
Operators and other interested parties will be invited to submit comments and recommendations before any legislation is passed, while the European Commission will also be required to ratify the decree before it can begin its ascent into Portuguese law.
Despite the timeframe placed on legislation, João Alfredo Afonso, partner at Portuguese law firm Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva, said it was unlikely that any final decree would enter into law before the end of the year.
Portugal first announced plans to liberalise its online gambling market last year and the most recent round of discussions began last month, prompted by pressure from the EU troika that brokered the country’s economic bailout.