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The € 500 million gaming contribution might be waived following a warning sent to the Government by VLT concessionaires on the basis of the self-protection principle.
The likely increase of the taxation on AWPs and VLTs provided by the upcoming Budget Law leaves open the uncertainty on whether this is additional to the € 500 million contribution provided by the Budget Law of last year.
Members of the Government have confirmed that the € 500 million contribution is due for 2015 and competent courts have turned down applications for interim injunctions filed by the concessionaires in order to stop the enforcement of such contribution.
However, the concessionaires have now apparently invoked the so called principle of “self-protection” enabling rights holders such as the VLT concessionaires to autonomously invoke the protection of their right. And in the particular circumstances of this case, the concessionaires warned the Government from enforcing the payment of the second instalment of the € 500 million contribution due at the end of November as it would be in contrast with European principles.
At the same time the budget department of the Senate emphasized that the expected tax entries deriving from the increase in the taxation of VLTs and AWPs are “not prudent“. This means that the Government might finally understand that the taxation in the gaming sector cannot be freely increased as it will not lead to larger tax entries.
The Budget Law is usually approved during the last days of the year and it will certainly be a hot period for the gaming sector.
