Spain would stop collecting 650 million euros a year due to lack of regulation in online games

The Spanish state would stop collecting 650 million euros a year due to the lack of regulation in online games, according to the Spanish Association of Internet Bettors (AEDAPI), named by Regulatory Affairs director of bwin group, Karin Klein, in Gaming Executive Summit 2008, a congress held in Madrid on July 9-10.

In the event, one of the main international platforms of debate of the gambling sector, both for operators and regulators, bwin showed a regulation model which, according to its leaders, would guarantee the best protection for the user, additional income for the state and a secure legal frame for operators.

In this sense, Klein affirmed that one of the main aspects of the regulation should consider the license and tax system, transparency of the firms, security of the platform, policies on responsible gaming and the existence of an independent entity of control.

Besides, bwin proposes to elaborate an UE tax system for games of chance, considering the use of the gross income as a gross tax base and associate the income of the state members of the UE to the incomes obtained in its territory.

„For example, online providers that were granted their license in Spain and participate in the Spanish market, must pay the gambling tax in Spain related to the income generated by users that live in the country”, explained the company.

The same way, bwin suggests competitive tax types for the online service, so providers with a European license remain competitive in the global market. Finally, organize the tax system of each member of the state, in order to avoid double tax.

Finally, Klein remarked the need of a regulation that guarantees the protection of the user and brings special attention to vulnerable users.