Greek Government Gambling Advertising Campaign

Greece is on the brink of unleashing an advertising war authorizing all forms of advertising by applicant operators to stop before licences have been granted.

Changes introduced by the Greek government to its draft legislation recently, compells operators licensed by the EU to pay Greece a 30% GPT tax and players will have to fork out 10% tax on winnings. During a six-month transitional period Greece must offer products and advertise without any constraints via the internet and offline media, counting in Television as well.

The Greek government who introduced last minute changes is trying to bring its legislation so that it complies with EU law. In addition it aims to push various proposals through as part of a massive financial package designed to alleviate Greece’s international creditors.

On August 16th the Greek parliament is going to vote on the must-pass finance bill, a delegation of its international lenders including the IMF and World Bank will visit the country and consult with Greek ministers aiming to lessen the country’s enormous budget shortfall.

Many egaming sites are still confused concerning the Greek government’s retroactive tax rate as stipulated within the draft bill. The Greek Constitution states that “a tax or any other financial charge may not be imposed by a statute that has effect prior to the fiscal year preceding the imposition of the tax”, the Greek government can amend the tax rate as they deem fit as far back as 1 January 2010, the moment internet casinos consented to place themselves under the tax regime of the law.

Still excluded from the potential legislation are betting exchanges, Cassaon-casino understands. A complaint was launched with the EC in June by Betfair regarding this and other aspects of the draft, together with the obligation to create a Greek legal entity, locate servers and process gambling transactions entirely within Greece, and also compelling internet players to obtain a special players’ ID card.

During the 6 months transitional period EU-based internet casinos will be able to target Greek players from servers based outside of Greece. However once licenses are issued it remains unclear as to whether they will be compelled to locate their servers within the country.