Operator News
Spain – Valencia increases its gaming taxes
By Phil - 18 September 2017
The government of Valencia will increase taxes on casino games and slot machines from next year.
According to new rules operators will need to pay an annual fee of €3,600 compared to the €3,200 they pay today per slot machine, while players who win prizes in casinos will pay at least 20 per cent, instead of the 15 per cent which they currently pay on prizes. The new rules are part of a much larger changes to the budget which have just been made public.
Winning customers in casinos will pay 20 percent on prizes up to €2m. This rises to 30 per cent for prizes from €2m to €4m, 40 per cent from €4m to €6m and 50 per cent for prizes of over €6m. The new fee will apply to both games held in the main casino as well as in adjoining rooms.
From January 1 operator of Type B machines located in bars, restaurants and casinos will need to pay the tax quarterly rather than yearly. However, the Generalitat Valencia (the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community is politically organised) has made a number of exemptions when it comes to raffles and tombola and introduces a new exemption for those raffles that take place at times such as Christmas and run by small businesses. It also makes exceptions for lotteries and raffles organised by charitable organisations such as ONCE the Spanish organisation for the blind and the Red Cross.
New rules also open up competition in the sector as it eliminates the restriction of a single operator per province. This would end the monopoly enjoyed in practice, by the current licensees: CIRSA, in Valencia; Acrismatic, in Alicante, and the Orenes Group in Castellón according to local press.
As well as raising taxes it opens up competition in the substantial Spanish Type B street sector as well, which is currently restricted to a handful of specialised companies as the new law eliminates the ceiling for authorised licensees.
