ICE 365: Germany’s turnover tax puts market in jeopardy

By Dr. Wulf Hambach, published under ice365.com

The expansion of online gaming in Germany has been a fraught process, and the legal market’s success will be hindered by a prohibitively high tax rate. Dr Wulf Hambach outlines what is at risk from the turnover tax, and the fight to save the market.

On 23 June, the German Bundestag passed the Racing Betting and Lotteries Act (RWG).

The Bundesrat bill (19/28400) proposes to tax online poker and virtual slot machines in the same way as other, comparable forms of gambling. By 30 June, the new Act was published in the federal law gazette (Bundesgesetzesblatt).

Considering the heavy criticism ahead of its enactment on July 1, this legislative process can be seen as a pure masterpiece by their initiators and lobbyists. The main challenge timewise has been to achieve a simultaneous enactment with the new State Gambling Treaty.

Read the whole article on ICE 365.