City councillors to decide on additional taxes for sports betting shops in Zenica

Councillors of the Zenica City Council will decide on Thursday, at the third session of the Council, on the Proposal for a decision on amendments to the Decision on communal taxes. The proposal, initiated by the Mayor of Zenica, Fuad Kasumović, envisages an increase in communal taxes for sports betting shops of up to 50,000 KM annually per betting point, Patria reports. 

In response to this Proposal, gambling operators operating in the Zenica area submitted on 13.12.2016 to the City of Zenica and the City Council members their Remarks and proposals on the Draft Decision on amendments to the Decision on communal taxes of the City of Zenica. In their proposals, the gambling operators explain that the Constitutional Court of the Federation of BiH has previously declared the Decision on communal taxes unconstitutional three times, according to which the type of activity was used as a criterion for the amount of communal taxes.

- The communal tax on a displayed company sign must be equal for everyone regardless of the type of activity the company engages in. Its amount may depend on the location where the company or sign is displayed, on city zones and the size of the sign, but it can in no way be determined by activity type. Otherwise, the constitutional right to equality before the law is violated – the gambling operators believe.

In the area of the City of Zenica, several gambling operators operate, with around 100 betting points, Patria reports.