Portugal To Launch Regulated Gambling Market By the End of 2014
Portugal's upcoming regulated gambling market is set to become operative by the end of 2014, as the Portuguese national parliament gave its green light to proposals about the creation of a regulated gambling market.
With a last-minute discussion held right before the summer break interrupted the parliamentary session, the assembly decided to move forward towards the creation of a legalized online gambling market. Authorities have now been given an 180-day deadline to make sure a bill will be drafted and a new regulation will be put into place before the end of the year.
The plan confirms what Portugal's Secretary of State Adolfo Mesquita Nunes said earlier in June, when he confirmed to the national media that the new gambling law "should come into effect by the end of 2014."
Although most of the details about Portugal's upcoming gambling legislation will be defined during the coming weeks, some of its core points have been known since months.
Once the draft bill will be drawn up and the legislation will become effective, Portugal's gambling industry will operate within a ring-fenced market controlled by the Inspecção Geral de Jogos (IGJ), Portugal's Gaming Inspectorate.
Operators interested in offering service to Portuguese players will have to establish a subsidiary in Portugal, file a request to the ICJ in order to obtain a specific gambling license valid for three years, and also fulfill a precise set of technical, financial, and administrative requirements that include a minimum capital share of €250,000 and the need to offer their services from a dot-PT domain.
During the past weeks, details emerged also about the levels of taxation to be applied to the operators, which are supposed to range from 15 percent to 30 percent of the total revenues coming from games of chance and horse betting, and from eight percent to 16 percent for revenues coming from sports betting.
The high proposed tax rates have raised concerns among gambling operators, however, and are expected to lead some of them to propose amendments in order to lower the rates and keep the Portuguese market profitable.
*Lead photo courtesy of WallpapersMag.
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