iGEN praises Robert Abela over pledge to veto proposed EU gambling tax

iGEN, an association of leading Malta-based iGaming companies, praised Prime Minister Robert Abela for taking a strong stance against a proposed EU-wide gambling tax.

“Well done to Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela, promising to veto the proposed EU tax on gambling, and nice to see the support across the political spectrum,” iGEN said. 

“This would have been an additional tax on top of all the national gambling-related taxes at country level, which is unfair and a non-starter.”

“Rather, the conversation should be elevated: the EU should seriously look at harmonising the online gambling regulation in Europe, propose a new framework with yes an EU tax replacing the individual national taxes, have common criteria for player protection, AML etc and combat the black market!”

The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament has proposed a 1 per cent levy on the revenues or turnover generated by large gambling operators active in the EU. 

EP Vice-President Victor Negrescu pitched this tax as a new revenue stream for the EU budget, estimating it would raise around €2-4 billion a year. 

“This is not a tax on citizens. It is a targeted contribution for education and youth, focused on large online operators active across the European single market,” he said. 

“We take up the initiative in times when Europe’s online gambling and betting market continues to expand rapidly, generating tens of billions of euros annually while increasingly operating across borders and benefitting from the single market.”

EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin recently confirmed that the European Commission is preparing a formal assessment of the S&D’s proposal.

However, Dr Abela made it clear that Malta strongly opposes such a tax and is ready to utilise its veto power at European Council level to torpedo it if needs be. 

He stressed that fiscal sovereignty should remain the responsibility of individual member states.

The Opposition has endorsed the Government's stance.