Greek Gambling Monopoly Unhappy With Tax Laws, Rational Group Opens .GR Client
On Friday, iGaming Business reported that the Greek Organization of Football Prognostics (OPAP), a public company that owns a monopoly over sports betting and lotteries in Greece, cited new national tax laws as the reason for the company’s struggles.
OPAP, which was recently sold to Emma Delta, posted a third-quarter net profit of €44.4 million, which is a 61-percent decrease from 2012. The earnings were higher than analysts’ average forecast of €37.2 million.
The company says that the new 30 percent tax has had a negative impact on 2013 earnings, even though the company is up 0.7 percent in revenues when compared to 2012.
“The Q3 revenues stabilization indicates a promsing restart for the company the comes along with the recent undertaking of our duties,” OPAP chief executive Kamil Ziegler said in a statement.
Greece has also opted to work with Rational Group, who moved its Greek players to both PokerStars.GR and FullTiltPoker.GR over the weekend. Winnings of €100 or higher will automatically be taxed by 15 percent at the end of each day. The tax rate increases to 20 percent for winning exceeding €500.
The Greek client shares the same international player pool as .com and .EU, but certain tournaments have been removed form the Greek lobby.
Photo courtesy of Casino Daily News
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