Regulation round-up 5 May 2015
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (29 April to 5 May 2015)
Portugal’s online gambling framework enters into law
New regime comes into force on 29 June and opens up the market to foreign operators
Portugal’s new online gambling regime will go live in less than two months’ time after the government last week published details of the framework in its Official Gazette.
The regime, which opens up current monopoly Santa Casa de la Misericordia to outside competition, is set to commence 60 days from entering into law and therefore is expected to come into force on 29 June.
Despite industry pressure, the country’s tax regime will remain as previously set out with gaming to be levied at 15-30% of revenues while sports betting will be taxed at 8% of turnover up to 30m a year, and ramped up to 16% thereafter.
The government said it expects to collect approximately 25m per year in tax, but some observers believe the tax regime may price some operators out of the market and lead to a shortfall in tax receipts.
German VAT battle gathers momentum
A coalition of approximately a dozen well-known European brands has been formed in an attempt to overturn a decision by German authorities to apply value added tax (VAT) to gaming products.
Germany-facing operators have been landed with a potential million Euro tax bill after VAT on electronic services was switched from point of supply to point of consumption on 1 January.
Member states have the sovereign right to apply an exemption to gambling-related products and while the large majority of states have applied the exemption, Germany, along with Ireland and France, has implemented the levy.
Seven days in regulation:
Mr Green lodges Austria tax bill appeal
Casino operator Mr Green has launched an appeal over its £8.5m Austrian tax charge with the firm seeking recourse both through the Austrian courts and the European Commission.
In February the Malta-based operator announced it had set aside SEK108m (£8.5m) within its 2014 accounts as a provision for its ongoing tax dispute with Austrian authorities.
But the company has now decided to contest the liability to pay the tax in its entirety on multiple grounds and has filed an appeal with the Administrative Court in Austria as well as submitting a complaint to the European Commission.
William Hill Aus negates in-play ban with ‘Click to Call’
William Hill Australia customers can now place in-play bets online for the first time following the launch of the operator’s new ‘Click to Call’ feature, a product designed to work around the country’s live betting ban.
The industry-first product, which was launched two weeks ago on both WilliamHill.com.au and TomWaterhouse.com.au, enables punters to bet on in-play events online in a matter of seconds.
Under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, Australian betting operators are currently prohibited from providing online betting during live sports and can only accept wagers placed over the phone.
California makes “historic” online poker progress
Lawmakers in the state of California has taken a “historic” step towards passing online poker legislation after voting in favour of a bill seeking to legalise the activity in the state.
AB 431, introduced by Assemblyman Adam Gray back in February, passed unanimously through the Assembly Governmental Organisation Committee last week.
The bill still faces an uphill battle to become law, but it is the first time lawmakers in the state have voted in favour of internet poker legislation moving out of Committee and on to the next stage.
ASA rules for William Hill Casino in ad row
An email advert for William Hill Casino did not breach the UK advertising code despite a complainant the subject line “you were born to be happy” was irresponsible, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled.
The email contained details of a bonus on a player’s first deposit, and contained the subject line “You were born to be happy”.
The complainant challenged whether the subject line was irresponsible and suggested that gambling could provide an escape from personal problems.