Operator News
Portugal – Portugal’s casinos exempt from gambling tax until 2022 with licences renewed
By Phil - 7 May 2021
The Portuguese Government has ruled that casinos won’t have to pay any annual fees on gambling revenues until 2022.
The Ministry of Economy said that the effects of the pandemic ‘make existing contracts unenforceable.’ The Executive and the Portuguese Association of Casinos (APC) are currently negotiating ‘the appropriate framework to manage the impact of the pandemic and restrictions on the operation of casinos this year and next.’
The Executive and the Portuguese Casino Association are in negotiations to create ‘the appropriate framework to manage the impact of the pandemic and restrictions on the operation of casinos this year and next’ to ensure the solvency of companies.
And with licences in Lisbon, Estoril and Figueira da Foz all ending on December 31, 2020, the Government has decided to extend the contracts for another year, without the need to pay compensation for this extension.
The Ministry of the Economy said the effects of the pandemic on the sector, which in 2020 saw profits drop by almost 50 per cent, and this year already accounts for three and a half months of inactivity, ‘make the existing contracts unenforceable.’
“Given the circumstances inherent to the COVID-19 disease pandemic and the adverse market conditions, there was no objectively possibility to launch tenders for new concessions,” explained the Ministry. “The current ones will remain, therefore, in force.”
The sector expects the Government to also determine the extension of the other casinos, including those in Espinho, Póvoa de Varzim and the Algarve gambling zones all of which expire in 2023 and those for the Troia and Chaves casinos which expire in 2032.
According to the Estoril Sol Group, ‘a general agreement’ has already been reached to bail out the casino sector which has suffered ‘losses without precedents’.
Casinos estimate that revenues dropped to €159m (at least half of what they had been in 2019) although online gaming, already a threat to traditional gaming in casinos, has climbed by 57 per cent to €336.3m.
