“In many European Union countries, including Italy, there is no tax regulation inherent to the world of Esports. The typicality that distinguishes this phenomenon is counterbalanced by a practice that is spreading; in fact, there are starting to be common characteristics from which we must start to understand what the related tax aspects are. Italy must become an attractive country for gamers, it must seize this opportunity. The European Parliament in 2022 embarked on the path of regulating Esports, underlining however that it is entertainment, without having anything to do with sport. It is therefore difficult today to talk about an assimilation between sport and Esport. The absence of a clear regulatory framework could lead the financial administration to assimilate Esports to games of skill, with a drift towards gambling, or there could be the risk of assimilating Esports to prize competitions, but in in both cases there is a risk of entangling Esports in a discipline that does not reflect their nature and is also particularly stringent. We must look for common aspects in the Esport phenomenon that take on fiscal relevance. Today, for example, it is important to understand whether the remuneration for Esports activity is paid to the team or to the individual gamer. Another aspect to understand is whether the activity is occasional or continuous, we must then try to understand when the income is produced in Italy".
The professor said it Fabio Saponaro, Professor of tax law at Unisalento, speaking in Lecce at the University of Salento at the conference "International taxation, between sport, esports and gaming".
