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The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is lobbying for Portugal’s government to change their gambling taxes policies. According to EGBA, they are “discriminatory.” and lead local gamblers to choose non-licensed sites.
Current gambling law was established in Portugal in 2015. Online sports wagers are taxed anywhere from 8%-16% and online casino gaming gross gaming revenue (GGR) is taxed between 15%-30%.
On Monday, The EGBA suggested in their statement that a better option would be a flat tax calculated against the GGR.
“EGBA urges the authorities to apply equal taxes across all online gambling products – and based on gross gaming revenue (GGR). This will ensure the regulated Portuguese market becomes more attractive to players – because a sensible taxation level will lead to better priced betting odds – and pull into the regulated market more of the 75% of Portuguese players who are now playing on websites not regulated in Portugal.”
According to a recent local study, 2018 saw a 10% increase of Portuguese gamblers opting for the non-licensed sites, and, like it was mentioned in the EGBA statement, currently 75% of local bettors is using offshore websites.
