Online Gambling Scenario of Italy

Italy which legalized online gambling a couple of years back, did so only on online poker. This year July, a few online casino operators got their gaming platforms licensed from the Italian Regulatory Authority. Now gamers can play online casino games legally along with poker in the country.

It has been only a month since online casino games are legally offered to players.  But the country has already drawn some conclusions. Europe’s Regulatory Authority has planned to levy taxes on the turnover of online gambling. This industry recommendation is accepted by Italy as well, which is planning to levy a tax of 20% on the gross profit of online casinos.  The matter to think about in this regard is, whether the policy of taxation brings the desired results in terms of tax revenues. If the policy is not proved to be successful, then Italy’s regulatory authorities will think of levying turnover taxes.

Gamers have joined the online casinos of Italy in big numbers. The turnover estimation for the Italian gambling market is over € 10 billion for this year. The estimation for 2012 is even more, nearly €20 billion. Two major developments will be taking place next year with regard to online gambling in Italy. Some offshore operators will make an entry into the market. Also some new slot games will be introduced during the first half of the year. Advertisements related to online casinos also have a major role to play in the huge turnover of the industry. Operators who have already licensed their internet casinos are trying to secure their positions in the online gambling market before new companies make their entries.

The leading software provider of online gambling, Playtech has gained huge popularity in the Italian gambling market. It completed the Collaudo testing process and is the first one to do so. A number of internet casinos, powered by Playtech are operating in Italy today.