Over 65% more revenue for the state budget from taxing the entire gambling industry in Romania
2022 is a difficult year. On 8 March, the State of Alert that destroyed the economy for 2 years and blocked the activity of several economic branches, including gambling, ended as if by magic. Then came the industry surcharge from 1 August this year. We offer you a brief x-ray of our gambling industry situation from last year by analyzing the Annual Activity Report submitted by the ONJN to the Romanian Government to see how we are doing before what will be recorded in next year’s report when we will also have the situation of our sector after the impact of the surcharge this summer.
revenues from the taxation of land-based and online gambling
During 2021, a total of 359 gambling organizers and 436 licensed class II economic operators carried out their activity, as follows:
- a) 24 fixed odds betting organizers;
- b) 1 mutuel betting organizer;
- c) 1 lotto gambling organizer;
- g) 7 organizers of poker clubs gambling;
- e) 3 casino gambling organizers;
- f) 6 landbased bingo gambling organizers;
- g) 1 organizer of bingo games of chance conducted via television networks;
- g) 1 organizer of poker festivals gambling;
- h) 285 slot machine gambling organizers;
- i) 30 organizers of remote gambling;
- j) 436 economic operators holding a class II license.
Compared to 2020, in 2021 we can see a slight contraction in the total number of game organizers, from 360 companies in 2020 to 359 in 2020. The activity among poker clubs remained constant with 7 organizers, the number of live casinos decreased again (from 4 in 2020 to 3) and the number of slot machine gambling organizers remained the same, 285. The number of bingo organizers operating in gaming halls remained constant – 7. There is an increase in remote gambling organizers from 25 in 2020 to 30 in 2021. In addition, probably related to the increase in online activities, there is a substantial increase in the number of class II licensees from 411 economic operators in 2020 to 436 in 2021.
In 2021 the Romanian State collected over 1 billion lei from landbased gambling taxes
The total gambling fees collected in 2021 from 795 economic operators, of which 359 gambling organizers (first payment in the authorization file) and 436 economic operators licensed class II was RON 1,090,205,214 (EUR 223,677,721) by 48% less than in 2020 when RON 716,673,813 (EUR 150,843,765) were collected from 771 economic operators, of which 360 gambling organizers and 411 economic operators licensed class II. The euro exchange rate for the year 2021, used for the taxes set in this currency was: 1 euro = 4,8740 lei, and for 2020 the exchange rate was 1 euro = 4,7511 lei. You will also notice that the level of license fees has remained approximately the same as the previous year, even increased slightly (from RON 41,473,866 in 2020 to RON 42,808,780 in 2021, i.e. an increase of 3.21%) which means that the companies have paid their license fees, they want to continue operating even if the state has restricted their activity, changed their operating hours and forced them to close their gambling venues at 22:00, because the covid was only transmitted at certain hours and only through certain sectors of activity. There is also an 8.8% increase in fees collected from Class II licensees, from RON 11,716,213, which was recorded in 2020 to RON 12,750,384 collected in 2021. Significant increases took place in the vice tax which rose from RON 51,021,284 recorded in 2020 to RON 121,050,260 in 2021, i.e. an increase of 237%. Fees on video lottery activities increased by about 14%, from RON 21,683,197 in 2020 to RON 24,711,836 in 2021. The level of collection of the Authorization Fee increased almost 3.8 times from RON 86,076,253 in 2020 due to the pandemic to RON 327,740,282 in 2021.
Here is the amount of each tax for 2021:
TOTAL LICENSE FEE for gambling organizers ……… RON 42,808,780
TOTAL CLASS II LICENSE FEE ………………………… RON 12,750,384
TOTAL PARTIAL AUTHORIZATION FEE………………………RON 327.740.282
(first payment in the authorization file)
TOTAL REGULARIZATION FEE …………………………… RON 504,560,467
TOTAL VICE FEE ………………………………………… RON 121,050,260
TOTAL VIDEOLOTO FEE………………………………..RON 24,711,836
TOTAL ANALYSIS FEE ………………………………… RON 86,573
TOTAL LICENSE ISSUANCE FEE …………………………… RON 294,347
We specify that, in the course of the activity, the legislation regulating the field of gambling, in addition to the license fee and the authorization fee, imposes, in accordance with the provisions of art. 13 para. (4) and art. 14 para. (1) and para. (2) lit. d) of the G.E.O. no. 77/2009, as subsequently amended and supplemented, the traditional gambling organizers specific to casinos and poker clubs the obligation to transfer entirely to the state budget, until the 25th of the following month, for the previous month, the fees for accessing the authorized locations.
Remote gambling
Remote gambling offers a clear increase in activity (increasing the number of operators, from 25 to 30) and in revenue to the state budget on all the indicators considered (license fee, authorization fee, etc.), with a total of 11% more taxes collected online in 2021 than in 2020.
Fees collected in 2021
License fee ……………………. RON 8,568,930…………30 operators
Authorization fee………………… RON 50,832,049…………30 operators
License dossier analysis fee………….. RON 86,573…………7 operators
License fee………………RON 294,347……………7 operators
Regularization fee…………….RON 446,415,624 ………..30 operators
TOTAL…………………………RON 506,197,522
Class II License fee……….. RON 12,750,384 ………436 licenses
Fees collected in 2020
License fee ……………………… RON 8,097,371 …………… 25 operators
Authorization fee ……………… RON 37,907,909 …………25 operators
License analysis fee…………RON 59,389 …………..5 operators
License issuance fee …………… RON 201.922 …………. 5 operators
Regularization fee ……………… RON 409,391,420 …………25 operators
TOTAL…………………………RON 455,658,011
Class II License fee ………………………… RON 11,716,213………… 411 licenses
Online gambling continues its positive evolution. The number of operators has increased, the number of Class 2 licensees has increased, all the aspects that define this branch of our industry are growing year on year.
