A rethink that conflicts with the law and which extends the scope of application of a specific tax, to the detriment of betting licensees. With a published sentence, the Council of State, Seventh Section, accepted the appeal of the concessionaires and annulled the contested acts with which the Monopolies and Customs Agency had ordered the operators to pay additional amounts of the Salvasport levy introduced by the Relaunch Decree in 2020 for support sport. According to the highest administrative judge, the request conflicts with the indications of the legislator who, in providing for the levy, also indicated the overall size of the fund.
The Monopolies and Customs Agency had, initially, correctly interpreted the meaning of the law, indicating - 40 million euros for the year 2020 and 50 million euros for the year 2021 - the total amount to be reached , only to then retrace his steps and request the payment of further sums, demanding the application of the 0,5% tax on the gaming "harvest" for the entire reference period. The new decisions were issued following "interviews" between the Agency and the State Accounting Office, according to which there would be no overall amount with respect to the tax.
“As we anticipated a year ago – he comments Moreno Marasco (in the photo), president of LOGiCO (League of Online Channel Gaming Operators) – the story ends with a resounding rejection, already abundantly announced, and a waste of time and money, including public money. It should also be remembered that this tax calculated not on the actual turnover of companies but on the overall collection (therefore also including winnings) mainly affected players. We are certain that the new course of the Monopolies and Customs Agency will be able to manage relations with dealers in a different way and close a season of useless and counterproductive conflict".
In the reasons, the Council of State recalled that the tax had been introduced "as an emergency decree to deal with the economic emergency that arose following the closure and restrictions on economic activities, with the aim of finding the necessary resources to finance measures to support and relaunch the economy and the sports sector" therefore not to finance public spending in general. The Council of State then underlined “the need for collection activity to be carried out within a framework of plausible certainty”, with a view to balancing opposing interests.
The TAR of Lazio had rejected the concessionaires' appeals but today the Council of State overturns the decision of the first degree administrative judge by accepting the concessionaires' appeals for violation of the law and excess of power.
The association Logical (Lega Operatori di Gioco su Canale Online) was established in April 2016 and aims to represent the interests of companies operating, through a regular concession from the Italian state, in the online gaming and betting sector.
It is a non-profit, independent and non-partisan trade association and represents Italian and international dealers and providers of legal online gaming: Bet365, Betsson, Betway, Bwin, Kindred Group, Leovegas, StarCasinò, William Hill.
