In tough news for the French casino sector, the country’s Senators approved new tax hikes across all gambling verticals.
The “comportmental tax raises” which take aim at soft drinks, tobacco and gambling, were backed by French Senators.
Having previously been rejected by MPs in the region, however, Senators pushed through the measures yesterday, with Lottery GGR set to be taxed at 10%, all retail sports bets at 10% from 7% and online bets at 15% from 10.5% currently.
French casinos and online operators currently pay GGR taxes of around 55% and the new measures would push the taxes close to 60%. The reforms are part of the government’s plan to raise €500m to boost its social security budget and address its national debt.
A tax increase across all gambling disciplines was proposed in October by the Budget 2025 of Prime Minster Michel Barnier, with plans to raise €500m from French operators.
Opening this week’s annual conference of the country’s igaming trade body AFJEL, Nicolas Béraud, CEO of Betclic and AFJEL President, said higher taxes will make it even more difficult for operators to generate profits and put at risk many sports federations, leagues and grassroots organisations.
The government was “at best underestimating and at worst ignoring” their concerns, he said.
He added that regulations were handicapping the industry when it comes to ensuring maximum protection for players.
He also warned that French players can find an online casino site on Google in minutes and “play without even realising it’s an illegal site”. He also made the point that with an estimated four million players already active and revenues of €2bn, the illegal market in France is already “the size of a mature market”.
“We honestly don’t know if problem gambling rates have gotten worse in recent years, but the four million playing on illegal sites should be brought into a legal setting. There is no one better than online operators at monitoring activity and detecting problem gamblers,” added Béraud.
