The Czech government is drafting a bill that would allow online gaming for all casino operators in the country but also raise taxes for them.

The bill, which would come into effect in 2016, would set separate tax rates for different types of gaming. “We need to create an environment that will allow us to tackle hard-core gaming like slots or table games,” said Deputy Finance Minister Ondrej Zavodsky.

“The indirect costs for the state stemming from such gambling are several times higher than the revenue it collects. That should be made even.”

The Czech Republic, which had 58,841 gaming machines at the end of March, collects about US$402m in taxes from the gaming industry a year. The Finance Ministry estimates that costs related to the gaming industry are at least four times higher than revenue, he said.

The country has the highest number of bars with gambling licences per capita worldwide, Zavodsky said. Casinos and slot operators would thus face higher tax rates, while lottery companies would be taxed less, Zavodsky said. In 2012, a special 20 per cent lottery tax on gaming companies was imposed. Slot operators also have to pay a daily fee per machine.