The CEO of Swedish operator ATG has reiterated his desire to see an alternative gambling tax rise plan in the country.
Hans Lord Skarplöth has proposed a standalone rise in igaming tax to 26 per cent from 18 per cent instead of the government’s current plan of raising all taxes to 22 per cent.
He previously said ATG’s plan “recognises the differences in risk and societal benefits associated with different forms of gambling” and ensures the system is “fair, transparent and supports activities that contribute positively to society, such as horse racing and sports.”
In his new comments, Skarplöth said the operator has conducted research into EU countries that chose to differentiate taxes.
“The result was encouraging in our eyes as it showed that differentiated gambling taxes are common in the EU,” he said.
“In fact, only Cyprus, Malta and the Netherlands have uniform tax rates regardless of the form of gambling. Perhaps the most important insight for us was that online casinos are taxed higher - often much higher - in several countries.
“Obviously, these countries have had the same thought as us, that is, let the non-competition most problematic form of gambling pay the most back to society.”
Skarplöth added that the political representatives ATG has met so far “far have shown a great understanding of how a generally increased gambling tax risks hitting the horse industry.”
“At the same time, our proposal for a differentiated gaming tax has met with some interest - knowledge of our neighbouring countries' solution has been surprisingly low,” he said.
“The hope is now that our analysis will move legislators from insight to action. In parallel, we are investigating whether there is anything else in our Swedish tax system that would make a structure with different tax rates at stake impossible.”
