InsidePoker Business: Focus On… Germany

Jake Pollard, published in InsidePoker Business, September/October 2010, edition 9, page 44

Schleswig-Holstein Pushes For German Gambling Re-Think

28 Sep, 2010 / GamblingCompliance / Daniel Macadam

Parliamentary discussions are underway in Schleswig-Holstein regarding online gambling reforms as the Lander looks to implement them quickly, before the controversial Interstate Treaty expires.

Its two ruling parties are working towards a revision of the treaty that would amend the current state lottery monopolies, open up the sports betting market and end the blanket ban on internet gambling.

They aim to present their lottery reforms to the 15 other German states, or Lander, by the end of this year, and their plans for the controlled liberalisation of sports betting and internet gambling by mid-2011. … Continue Reading

Tipp24 Plots German Comeback After ECJ Shake Up

14 Sep, 2010 published on GamblingCompliance by Daniel Macadam

Private lottery operator Tipp24 plans to resume its formerly outlawed German business in the wake of Europe’s top court ruling last week against Germany’s state lottery and sports betting monopolies.

Prosecutions against Tipp24, and other private operators, for breaking the country’s prohibitive Interstate Treaty are now on hold as gaming authorities wait for the national courts to decide how the ECJ rulings will be applied.

The ECJ’s judgments on Wednesday plunged the German gambling market into legal chaos, as they found that Germany’s regulations did not limit games of chance in a consistent and systematic manner.

… Continue Reading

Taxation of poker in Europe

For poker players the profits, and regrettably also the losses, can quickly mount up. The game is played with high frequency at casinos and on poker sites and the stakes are often very high. The game generates vast flows of money in the directions of both winners and operators, and Governments across Europe have been swift to tax these monies, regardless sometimes of whether the game is marketed through legal channels. In the majority of instances tax is imposed solely on the profits realized by the gaming operator, with a distinction being made between forms of poker whereby an operator also participates in the game, or merely facilitates the game for others. However, in a number of instances the player is also required to declare game winnings for tax purposes. This article takes a comparative look at the tax treatment of poker in England, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Malta. In doing so, we have differentiated between remote (internet) poker and live-tournament poker and, in the case of each specific country, we also outline who is defined as taxpayer, the type of tax liability involved and the taxable rates applicable. … Continue Reading

The ECJ upheld its case law regarding online gambling services: towards 27 national gambling legislations?

The ECJ held in Otto Sjoberg and Anders Gerdin v. Swedish State (joint cases C-447/08 and C-448/08, July 8, 2010) that Swedish legislation which prohibits the promotion of online gambling organized by private operators in other Member States for profit is consistent with EU law. However, EU law precludes national legislation which penalizes the promotion of gambling organized in Sweden without a license differently from that of gambling organized outside Sweden.

In the above-mentioned rulings, the ECJ observed, thereby upholding its earlier case law regarding online gambling services (e.g. Santa Casa, Ladbrokes and Sporting Exchange), that EU law allows restrictions justified, among other things, on grounds of public policy, public security or public health. … Continue Reading