Many of Romania's casino operators are having to forget about making profits and just concentrate on breaking even, the country's Gaming Association of Organisers and Producers has said.
The economic crisis coupled with recent tax hikes has resulted in many operators re-evaluating their business strategies, with several forced out of business completely.
Pascu Cristian, the association’s vice president, told InterGaming that since the tax changes came into force in June 2009, the total number of casinos in operation in Romania has dropped from 22 to 15.
"The majority of casino operators are making a loss," he explained. "In the last few years they’ve been forgetting about profit, sustaining the operation with their money to try to stay in the market."
Romania is currently embroiled in a high-profile debate with the EU over its proposed online gaming laws but its bricks and mortar operators have also been fighting steps to further increase taxation levied against them.
A ‘players winnings tax’ has been the subject of much anger among operators who, at the request of the government, have been ordered to retain as much as 25 per cent of winnings for the treasury. The lobbying efforts of the association and the operators were thought to have been successful when, as a compromise, they agreed to dispense with the winnings tax and replace it with a mandatory casino entrance fee.
"For reasons that we could not understand," Cristian said, "the government maintained the 25 per cent players winning tax and introduced the entrance ticket of 200 lei for casinos and 50 lei for playing at slots.
"That means that at the beginning of the year we had to face two forms of player taxation that, instead of keeping the customers in our gaming locations during these hard times, is driving them out."
