Romanian Government Might Increase Taxes on Gambling

Romanian lawmakers are debating a new gambling taxation system, which includes higher fees for operators and players.

New information about changes to current Romanian gambling laws surfaced back in December, but lawmakers were still debating the issue back then. One thing was certain though: that something had to be done, as the current system wasn’t working to the state’s benefit.

The country’s law imposes a 25% tax on all gambling winnings, but authorities have found that they don’t have a system for monitoring these incomes efficiently. It comes as no surprise either. There is no way of telling how much players pocket each time they play slot machines, video lottery terminals, fixed-odds betting terminals or even casino and table games found on online gambling sites in Romania.

Since the tax has proved completely inefficient, there’s been talk of eliminating it and now lawmakers decided to replace it with fees that actually amount up to more.

Fees imposed on gamblers

According to the new proposal, taxes paid by gambling operators would increase by 2% and this alone would already bring an extra EUR 7.5 million income to the state’s budget. Betting shop owners would have to pay a yearly EUR 200 for each machine, which adds to the regular annual fees.

There’s more bad news though and this time for gamblers, as they’ll be charged twice as much when entering a gambling venue. In addition, for each hand played they’ll have to pay 0.1% of the betting value.

Despite the increased taxes, industry representatives believe the country’s gambling legislation is generally improving. It remains to be seen if state authorities approve of these changes.