The French government's decision has raised questions from the physical casino body, Casinos de France.
France.- The French government is taking steps to finally regulate online casinos in the last major Western European market where the mode is prohibited. Facing a booming market and the need to plug a hole in public finances, the government intends to regulate the sector by as soon as 2025, but this has caused internal conflict with physical casinos.
Online casinos remain illegal in France despite the regulation of sports betting and online poker. The national regulator, the ANJ, recently announced a campaign against unlicensed operators, seeking to clarify to the public that the sector is illegal. However, a new amendment that will be debated with the proposed 2025 budget could allow for a regulated and competitive online casino market by the middle of next year.
The government noted that the lack of a regulated online casino segment in France had led to a strong illegal offering that is estimated to raise between EUR748m and EUR1.500m.
While some lawmakers have been pushing for regulation for some time, the government is finally moving forward due to the need for higher tax revenues to reduce the country's debt and public deficit, which stands at 5.5 percent of GDP.
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Although the government also intends to increase taxes on the gaming sector in general, it believes that regulating online casinos could generate EUR1.000m. According to the proposed wording, online casino operators would pay 27 percent of gross gaming revenues. The total tax rate in the vertical would be 55.6 percent.
However, the physical casino body Casinos de France criticized the measure and requested that physical casino operators receive three years of exclusivity in the online casino market. It claims that a competitive market would cause the government to lose approximately EUR450m in tax revenues from physical casinos.
