There is a ranking in which Italy dominates the whole of Europe: that of tax revenue from gambling. Only in this sector, direct and indirect taxes lead to the Italian public coffers over 12 billion (12,311 according to data from the Ministry of Economy relating to 2014), equal to approx 3% of all tax revenues. A figure that even exceeds that of tobacco (10,294 billion), which has always been a particularly generous sector with the Treasury.
“It is evident that the Italian State is the one that collects the most in Europe from the ludic phenomenon – writes Simone Ghislandi in an essay published in the 2016 report 'Italian public finance', published by Il Mulino -, with figures that come to be around double that of the UK and almost triple that of France and Spain. This is against a market which, in terms of net winnings, is around 25% larger than the UK”.
Of course, a direct comparison between the different taxation systems "is not possible - Ghislandi explains -, since the very definitions of taxable matter vary significantly". However, the comparison helps to understand how the Italian tax regime on gaming differs from that of other European countries.
The most marked differences as regards the amount of the levy and the methods of taxation are registered on video lotteries (Vlt) and slot machines. The latter alone produce over half (54%) of Italian tax revenues linked to gaming and are taxed at a rate of 17,5% (until 2015 it was 13%) on a tax base that is equal to the collection. For video lotteries, on the other hand, from this year the rate is 5,5%, to which, however, an additional substitute tax of 6% is added on winnings exceeding €500.
Nothing further from the tax rules of Germany and Denmark, where the rates on slots and Vlts are respectively 20 and 41%, but are applied on a tax base made up of gross winnings. The system in force in the United Kingdom is also very different, where each appliance is subject to an excise duty which can vary from just under a thousand to more than 6 thousand pounds.
As regards instead the horse racing bets, the Italian tax base "is the same as in France and Germany - continues Ghislandi -, but the Italian rate is higher (15% in Italy, 5% in Germany and 10% in France)". However, the rate in force in our country is average on the side of online games: Italy has a 20% gross margin rule, while the same tax base is taxed at 15% in the United Kingdom and 25% in Spain.
But beyond the technical details, the supremacy of the Italian Treasury on games does not seem to be able to waver above all due to the extremely high levels achieved by collection, which has stabilized at around 2012 billion a year since 85. Some news could come with the anti-gambling crackdown being studied by the Renzi government, but it will take years to understand if the measures in the pipeline will really have a significant impact on the state coffers.
