(Jamma) “On the occasion of the hearing held today at the Budget and Finance Committees of the Chamber we delivered a concise memorandum which completely reconstructs the story linked to the dispute initiated by the Court of Auditors which has involved the ten slot concessionaires since 2007”, declared Massimo Passamonti, President of Confindustria-Sistema Gioco Italia.
“Here we have remarked that there has never been talk of tax evasion and that the Tar first and then the Council of State canceled all the conventional penalties imposed by the Monopolies in the matter in question. In fact, the administrative judge ascertained the absence of any responsibility and the good faith of the concessionaires with regard to the alleged delays in starting up the business and in connecting the gaming machines to the network and the non-existence of breaches attributable to the concessionaires. And this also with regard to the so-called "fourth penalty" (quantified overall at around 70 million euro) concerning the service levels that had to be respected for the connection of the devices: the same TAR on 20 February 2013 annulled - for the same reasons – also this last sanction”.
“The dispute with the Court of Auditors still remains open, which sentenced the 10 concessionaires in the first instance to pay around 2,5 billion euros. We are waiting for the appeal to be fixed, but we are absolutely convinced, as demonstrated in various degrees of judgment, that there is no fault of the dealers who, on the contrary, have contributed to creating the largest connection network for devices in the world, a fact that today guarantees control of the territory and very significant tax revenues".
"During the hearing we also confirmed, with reference to the provisions contained in the IMU decree, that although our opinion is that in the appeal we could see our reasons recognized, in order to close this dispute which has been creating enormous tensions in the sector for 6 years, the concessionaires are willing to evaluate settlement hypotheses, but certainly not in the quantitative and temporal terms inserted today in the Decree. The forecasts formulated are in fact absolutely unsustainable for the financial profiles of the potentially interested companies” concludes Passamonti.
