Europe's land-based casinos have reacted angrily to the European Commission's decision to allow Denmark's government to introduce a lower tax regime for online gaming businesses.
Earlier this week, the European Commission ruled that the different taxation levels for online and land-based gaming proposed under Denmark’s new draft gambling law are in fact compatible with the EU competition rules. The positive effects of market liberalisation, it said, outweigh the potential distortions of competition.
This means that Denmark is now free to impose a tax on gross gaming revenue of just 20 per cent on online casinos, while maintaining the 75 per cent tax on bricks and mortar operators.
Responding to the news, European Casino Association chairman Ron Goudsmit said the move is illogical. "Legal licences held by highly regulated land-based casinos should not be undermined by internet operators who have been operating illegally over the years, without paying taxes, nor abiding by consumer protection and anti-fraud measures," he said. "Exonerating these operators from the level of taxation imposed on land-based casinos will have a severe negative impact on casino operators with no gain to the regulating rationale."
