International Conference “Taxation in the European Gambling Industry” Held in Sarajevo

An international conference “Taxation in the European Gambling Industry” was held in Sarajevo today, organized by the European Organization for Gambling Regulation (EOGL). European and domestic experts from the fields of economics, finance, law, and the gambling industry presented and discussed taxation models in the European Union and the Federation of BiH, while also analyzing the current Law on Gambling in FBiH, as well as the proposed amendments to the Law submitted to the procedure by the Government of FBiH, Patria reports.
 
The conclusion of the conference is that the taxation of all stakes in gambling and all winnings is contrary to positive legal practices in the European Union and developed countries worldwide. The problem of a multiple increase in municipal taxes on prominent company signs and the existence of other parafiscal levies were also highlighted, which significantly hinders or completely prevents the operation of gambling providers, thus jeopardizing the survival of this activity on the market. 
 
Conference participants agreed that the taxation model proposed by the Government of FBiH is certainly detrimental to the economic environment, the state budget, and consequently to the citizens of the Federation of BiH. Several steps were proposed that the Government of FBiH should implement if it wants to properly regulate the market and adopt regulations in line with European Union principles and modern global trends. These steps are as follows: 
 
- Conduct an economic analysis of the current market situation, as well as the application of certain tax regimes to the existing situation of stakes, payouts, operating costs, etc.; 

- Establish a regulatory body within the Government of FBiH, which will license all gambling providers, whose role would be to ensure more order in the market through controls and monitoring of all participants;

- Adopt a gambling taxation model that is compatible with the models of Western European countries, which will take into account received stakes and paid winnings, as well as the costs of the provider, while ensuring that the taxation model does not prevent the positive operation of domestic providers. 

- Avoid a tax system that taxes gambling providers more than they can afford and more than they are burdened in other Western European countries that have a long tradition of taxing gambling and have a stable and regulated fiscal system; 

- Tax all forms of gambling equally, without making distinctions between lotteries and betting games, as well as slot machines and casinos, and provide equal conditions (regarding obtaining permits, distance from schools, etc.) for all providers, regardless of whether they are state-owned or private companies; 

- Enable gambling providers who enter the global market via the internet from the jurisdiction of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to compete in a market-competitive manner with other providers from around the world; 

- Introduce stricter sanctions for participants in the black market. 

The conference was also addressed by the President of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, Bruno Bojić, who stated that the Chamber does not approve and does not support the intention to destroy a legal activity such as the gambling industry, and emphasized that they will not allow the economic market in BiH to be “destabilized”.