Swedish govt review to propose scrapping much of gambling monopoly (updated)
29/03/2017 18:07
(Adds details and background)
STOCKHOLM, March 29 (Reuters) - Sweden's state gambling
monopoly should be largely scrapped and replaced with a system
under which online gambling companies are licensed and taxed, a
government-appointed review will propose this week, according to
a source familiar with the matter.
The rise of online betting has eroded the monopoly,
established in 1934, with other companies now able to operate
easily inside Sweden from abroad.
The government appointed a commission to investigate a
licence-based system in 2015, with the aim of bolstering tax
revenues and to bring companies under state supervision.
The special investigator leading the review, Hakan
Hallstedt, will recommend that online gambling firms pay a tax
of 18 percent on gross gaming revenue, said the source, who has
reviewed the proposal ahead of its presentation on Friday.
The proposal would allow the percentage of licensed and
tax-generating gambling to rise to 90 percent of the Swedish
market. According to the Swedish Gambling Authority it now
accounts for 23 percent.
By scrapping parts of the monopoly, the centre-left
government hopes to bring foreign-based online gambling
companies such as Kindred Group KINDsdb.ST and Betsson
BETSb.ST , which operate from outside Sweden and have taken a
growing share of online betting, under its regulatory sway.
Not the entire state monopoly will not be scrapped. Its
casinos and lotteries operations, for instance unchanged.
Net gambling revenues for the monopoly amounted to 17.1
billion crowns in 2016, a 2.4 percent rise from 2015, generating
6.4 billion crowns profit to state finances.
Sales on non-regulated gambling in Sweden, such as internet
casinos, provided by companies abroad, rose by 16 percent to 5.1
billion crowns ($574 million) last year. The state as yet
receives no revenue from those firms.
Swedish households spend on average 2.3 percent of their
disposable income on state-regulated gambling, around 6,000
crowns per year.
The gambling monopoly - as well as Sweden's monopoly on
alcohol sales - has been a point of conflict with the European
Union because of competition rules since Sweden joined the EU in
1995.
The report will be published on March 31.
(Reporting by Johan Sennero; editing by Niklas Pollard and
Johan Ahlander)
((Johan.Sennero@thomsonreuters.com; +4687001250; Reuters
Messaging: johan.sennero.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: SWEDEN TAX/GAMBLING