p4-10 news:News 02/12/2009 11:15 Page 2
CASINO NEWS
Casinos “under threat”
News in brief
as Bulgaria hikes taxes…
More members
Three new entrants bring the
membership list at the Association
B
ulgaria has raised gambling of Gaming Equipment
taxes by as much as 50 percent Manufacturers (AGEM) to 83 firms.
despite industry warnings that it The latest additions are display
could lead to job losses. maker Ceronix, poker and slot
machine developer Lightning
Under new regulations coming into Gaming, and promotions company
force at the beginning of January, all forms of gambling will be taxed at 15 SCA Gaming.
percent. Currently, taxes on sports betting are levied at ten percent, while
other types of gambling – including casino gaming, the national lottery and Wheely good
bingo – are taxed at 12 percent. Gala Casinos in the UK was
recognised by marketing trade
The Bulgarian Association for Entertainment and Gambling Games had magazine Campaign for its “Magic
warned that casinos, already feeling the effect of the global economic Bus” PR campaign, which involved a
downturn, could have to shed workers if the higher tax was imposed – and casino on wheels visiting
that if gaming firms were forced to close by the new tax regime, the net communities to give residents a
result for the government could be less, not more, income. taste of gaming. Gala took the gold
prize in the Campaign Big Awards’
But Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, reportedly keen to avoid raising liquor leisure, entertainment and media
taxes, pushed through the unified 15 percent gambling tax despite other category.
politicians’ attempts to broker a compromise of 12 percent.
Feeling safe
The Bulgarian government has also increased its quarterly fee payable by The iGuard Mobile Surveillance
the owners of gaming machines and roulette tables. The tax payable on and Omnipresence 3D Surveillance
machines will rise from 300 leva ($230) every three months to 500 leva security applications from Canada’s
($380), while the levy on roulette tables grows from 18,000 leva ($13,700) Feeling Software can now be
to 22,000 leva ($16,800). integrated with Pelco’s cameras and
encoders. Feeling Software says it
More than half of Bulgarian citizens supported a higher gambling tax, will soon add support for Pelco’s
according to a survey recently commissioned by the nation’s Finance Minister. Endura Video Management System
platform too.
…while Poland tightens slots laws,
Bally boost
considers ban on online gaming
Revenue from gaming operations
grew to a record $71m for Bally
Technologies in the first quarter,
P
oland has tightened restrictions on gaming both inside and outside ending on 30 September.
casinos. New regulations will introduce a legal minimum age of 18 for
gamblers, and lead to the withdrawal of the estimated 50,000 slots Rank on tax
currently found in many non-casino venues such as cafes and shops. Rank Group in the UK submitted
However, casinos will now be allowed to operate 70 slot machines each, up proposals to HM Treasury, the
from the current limit of 30. British finance ministry, ahead of
the government’s preparations for
The rules will also increase taxes on casinos’ profits from 45 percent to its next budget. Rank said that duty
50 percent and on betting services from two percent to 12 percent, as well on bingo should be levied at 15
as limiting advertising by gaming companies. percent, as it is for most other
types of betting and gaming; that
As Casino International went to press, the new law had been passed by revenue from player-to-player card-
both chambers of Poland’s parliament but still required the approval of room games and from table games
President Lech Kaczynski. should be treated separately when
calculating tax; and that tax levels
Meanwhile, Poland is also considering giving teeth to its ban on Internet on amusement machines should be
gaming, which is currently illegal within the country but in practice frozen. Separately, Rank has won
uncontrolled. the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers
Building Public Trust Award for Tax
The government is considering adding gaming operators to a list of Reporting, recognising Rank’s
Websites which would be blocked to Poles, along with child pornography and transparent approach to stating the
extremist political sites. effect of taxation on its business.
4 DECEMBER 2009
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