Italian Bookmakers with Unpaid Tax Duties Would Face Closure

Marcello Minenna, the newly appointed director-general of Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM), has said that the Italian betting shops are refusing to pay tax duties to local authorities as they are struggling due to impacts brought about by COVID-19. These shops are subject to forced closures in the next few months.

ADM said that it will allow no reprieve for the operators. Marcello Minenna has commenced negotiations with the Financial Police Unit (GDF), outlining the process following the shutdown of the non-compliant betting shops in the coming months.

According to the European Court of Justice, “betting duty is not discriminatory and must be imposed to all operators [within] the Italian territory, without any distinction based on the registered office.”

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Italy’s Supreme Court, the Corte di Cassazione, is expected to pass judgement on 200 outstanding gambling tax convictions by the end of the summer.

Minenna insists on carrying on with the agency’s strict attitude to unpaid taxes as it aims to collect a reported sum of €120million which dates back to 2018. The ADM is currently waiting on the Italian Supreme Court’s judgement regarding 200 outstanding gambling tax convictions.