Legal

Date: 05.12.2024

by Adam Dworak

Italian Gambling Tax Revenue Drops by 6.5% in First Three Quarters of 2024

The Italian gambling market, regulated by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM), saw a 6.5% year on year drop in tax revenue, €8.05bn from January to September 2024. This is the first big drop since the Covid pandemic and shows the changes in consumer behaviour and regulatory approach.

italy

Tax Revenue Down

According to the ADM Statistical Bulletin, the €8.05bn tax revenue is a big drop compared to the previous year.

The third quarter was the worst, tax collection fell 16% from €3.3bn in Q3 2023 to €2.22bn. This was mainly due to a 26% drop in gambling expenditure, €4.35bn for the quarter.

Contribution by Gaming Segments

Gaming machines were the biggest contributor to tax revenue, €910m (41%) from €1.26bn of player spend.

Number games and lotteries were second, €870m (39.08%), betting €180m (8.17%) and other games €260m (11.64%).

Compared to Other Sectors

While tax revenue from gambling was down, other sectors under ADM supervision were up. Tobacco tax revenue was up 5.77% to €4.18bn and customs taxes up 2.98% to €6.84bn.

Alcohol tax revenue was down 3.07% to €0.41bn.

New Online Gambling License Framework

The ADM has introduced a new online gambling license framework in Italy to adapt to market changes. Key features:

  • License Duration and Fees: Licenses will be 9 years and €7m each. Operators will also pay an annual fee of 3% of gross gambling revenue plus standard taxes.
  • Operational Restrictions: Operators will have one app and one website per product type, skin websites promoting branded products are not allowed.

The Ministry of Finance justified the higher license fees because the market is dominated by big multinational operators. ADM expects around 50 operators to apply for these licenses, €350m in initial fees and €100m in annual fees.

Age Verification

AGCOM, Italy’s media and communications authority, has introduced age verification for adult content, including gambling.

The new system will require the use of the national digital identity system (SPID) to verify users’ age before accessing services like gambling, pornography and other age restricted content.