Denmark Changes Online Gambling Legislation, Legalizes Daily Fantasy Sports
The green light has been received from the European Commission on a package of amendments to Denmark’s online gambling legislation, and it is set to introduce a number of significant modifications to the current legislation by the end of 2015.
Among the very few countries in Europe that seems to have found a successful formula for regulating the gambling industry, Denmark has recently reported a rise of the total gross gaming revenues, with a two-percent growth in 2014 compared to 2013.
With a positive outlook in sight, the Danish authorities have decided to amend the current legislation by strengthening the measures in place against money laundering, modifying the taxation applied to licensed gambling operators, and by creating a new license specifically targeted to daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators.
Once approved, the amendments will introduce a differentiation between operators based on their yearly revenues which will lead to an increase in the licensing costs for the licensed companies who generate revenues for more than KR100 million ($16 million) a year, and a decrease for those who do not go over the KR100 million roof.
As PokeFuse reported, the legislative changes will not affect the gaming taxes, as online gambling will still be subject to a high 28-percent corporation tax along with a 20-percent tax on their gross gaming revenues.
According to the Danish legislator, this new system could lead to a further growth of the industry and also facilitate the entrance of new operators in the country legislated market.
To date, the sites that offer online gambling services in Denmark with a regular State-issued license are PokerStars, bwin, partypoker, Unibet, Danske Spil, Betsson, NordicBet, ParadisePoker, and Scandic Bookmakers.
A recent report provided by the Danish gaming regulator Spillemyndigheden showed that these nine online gaming operators in Denmark realized an estimated DKK 2.855 billion ($400 million) in gross gaming revenue, representing a big 20-percent growth from the DKK 2.375 billion reported in 2013, and an even bigger 40-percent growth when compared to the DKK 2.045 billion ($330 million) in revenues in 2012.
The reform of Denmark’s Gambling Act, the first one since the set of norms was approved in 2012, will also allow the operators who already possess a license to renew it at a lower cost, and will create a new DFS-specific yearly license which cost has not been made public yet.
Image courtesy of FreeImages.com
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