​On Thursday, the government passed an emergency decree imposing higher taxes on the gambling industry, banning alcohol in venues, increasing guarantees provided by companies and requiring operators to have their headquarters in Romania. “The goal is obvious – for taxes to be collected in the country,” said Mihai Konstantin, a government spokesman.

• “Today, the government approved an extraordinary resolution that sets higher levels of annual license fees for the organization and conduct of gambling, as well as special fees and guarantees submitted by companies in this area,” Mihai Konstantin said at the end of the Government meeting.

According to him, he said that “the project, which was submitted for transparency by the Ministry of Finance, was approved by it at the meeting of the Government.”

• The bill raises the tax on gambling – click to open

Mihai Konstantin: The goal is obvious – to collect taxes in the country

A government spokesman said that today’s order provides, among other things, that “the right to organize and use gambling will only be granted to companies registered in Romania or legal entities legally established in a Member State or legal entities. legally established in a member state of the European Union or in other states that have signed the agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation, which have registered a permanent headquarters in Romania.”

• “The goal is obvious – that taxes and fees are collected in the country. An accessible online register of companies and premises where such activities are permitted will also be created.
• Another clarification: revenue from fees collected by the National Gambling Authority from licensed gambling operators is 70% transferred to the state budget, and the remaining 30% will be used by the ONJN to fund gambling prevention programs. drug addiction, to promote a responsible attitude to gambling and to fund a hotline for complaints in this area,” said Mihai Konstantin.

The Ministry of Finance will also have to propose a number of rules for the application of this regulatory act, adopted today, within 30 days, he emphasized.

New rules in the field of gambling

HotNews.ro has already presented on Tuesday, October 3, the GEO project submitted for public discussion by the Ministry of Finance.

The main changes concern the following aspects: an increase in fees associated with a license to organize and conduct gambling games, a ban on alcoholic beverages on the premises, the creation of a register of companies and head offices, as well as an increase in the guarantees provided by companies, the obligation of operators to place their social media headquarters in Romania.

Database with some players

The National Gambling Authority (ONJN) will manage a database of self-excluded and undesirable persons established at national level to combat and prevent gambling addiction.

This will allow all gambling operators to be consulted in real time to ensure and facilitate compliance with the legal provisions in this matter.

ONJN will develop a telverde-type communication line, as well as a significant increase in the annual contribution of licensed gambling operators to promote compliance with the principles and measures of socially responsible gambling.

How will this new activity be financed

Own revenues consist of contributions from licensed gambling operators with the following annual contributions:

Organizers of remote gambling games with a class I license – 500,000 euros annually;

Legal entities that directly engage in traditional and remote gambling have a Class II license – EUR 15,000 annually

Class III state monopoly remote games – 100,000 euros annually;

Licensed traditional gambling operators, namely:

• For lotto: €200,000 annually

• For video lotteries: €100 per device annually

• For reciprocal bets: €50,000 annually

• For fixed rate bets: €200,000 per year

• For counter bets: €100,000 annually

• For casino-specific gambling: €4,000 per year for each gaming table

• For typical poker club games: €5,000 per club per year

• For slot machine games, it will be applied in stages:

– EUR 100 per year for each permitted slot during 2023 in proportion to the period of time remaining after the entry into force of this decree;

– EUR 300 annually for each authorized slot during 2024

– EUR 500 annually for each authorized slot during 2025 and subsequent years.

• For bingo games held in gaming halls: €5,000 annually

• For bingo games of chance organized through television network systems: €500,000 annually

Income from contributions from licensed gambling operators collected by the National Gambling Authority 70% goes to the state budgetfrom the revenue accounts of the budget to which they were received, within 5 working days of the month following receipt, and the remaining 30% of the total amount of revenues is directed to activities financed from own revenues.

The income collected from these contributions is used to finance current and capital costs of activities, respectively, to prevent gambling addiction, for measures and programs to protect minors or other vulnerable groups from a social and economic point of view. , against gambling, the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction, for advertising and promotion of the prevention of gambling addiction and the promotion of responsible gambling, the creation of IT infrastructure – hardware and software, which will include a national database for the purpose of combating and preventing gambling addiction for self-isolated and unwanted people, telverde hotline.

Taking into account the order of distribution of the contributions of the organizers of licensed gambling games collected by the National Office of Gambling for activities financed from own revenues, a transitional rate is established for the amounts on the accounts of the National Office of Gambling. Gambling on the date of entry into force of the emergency resolution, respectively, from the surplus of previous years and from the availability of activities of the current year, fully financed from own revenues, a percentage of 70% is distributed to the state budget. .

No alcohol in the gaming rooms

In order to protect players and people who are at risk, the document states, it was necessary to establish a ban on the sale of alcohol in gambling halls.

At the same time, in order to popularize the rules of professional conduct based on the rules of ethics and integrity, it is proposed to prohibit the members of the Supervisory Commission of the National Gambling Office from participating in gambling.

It is also proposed to increase the level of guarantees that gambling operators must provide for this activity.

It is expected that the increase in taxes will have a positive effect on increasing revenues to the state budget by up to 40%. Thus, for the rest of 2023 and 2024, the revenues collected in the state budget are expected to reach 583.4 million lei.

What taxes are increasing for gambling

Gambling license fee (annually):

• For lotto: 200,000 euros
• For reciprocal bets: €65,000 For fixed odds bets: €200,000
• For counter bets: €150,000
• For casino-specific gambling: €150,000
• For typical poker club games: €25,000
• For games on slot machines: 150,000 euros
• For bingo games held in gaming halls: €15,000
• For bingo games of chance organized through television network systems: €150,000

There are 3 categories of licenses for remote gambling:

Class 1 license: for remote gambling is granted to operators who organize remote gambling that have a direct contract with the player and is 300,000 euros/year;

Class 2 license: for legal entities engaged in traditional and remote gambling, as well as for conformity assessment bodies. Provided by:

• operators offering means of management and hosting on the gaming platform, except for providers of networks and electronic communication services: EUR 20,000/year

(…)

3rd class license: to conduct lotto games – remotely – state monopoly, provided for in Art. 10 para. (1) lit. h) from the order on emergency situations. Awarded to lottery game operator: €200,000.

For the poker festival: 20,000 euros

For temporary casino-type games (valid for 3 months): €27,500

For draws – traditional game: 20,000 euros

For video lotteries – traditional game: 100,000 euros

See the full list of new gambling taxes at Project GEO