Italy’s new gambling taxes put operators on alert after the government targets €780 million from the sector

Italy’s cabinet has approved a budget of about $29 billion, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni saying $780 million will come from the gambling sector. For PSPs and operators, the important part is not the headline number but where the money is expected to be found: physical retail, extension fees, and possibly the PREU, while online appears to face only limited changes.

1. After a week of delays and negotiations with Brussels, Meloni’s government approved the budget on Wednesday. The $780 million target was folded into a draft already sent to Brussels this month, which also points to about $800 million for 2027 and 2028, and $533 million for 2029.
2. Meloni did not say who will pay the bill. She said the budget is “not against anyone” and that the government asked those with fewer problems to contribute. The details will only become clear once the articles and technical reports are published.
3. The main target appears to be Italy’s physical retail gambling business. Licenses for slot machines, betting shops, and bingo halls expire on 31 December. A three-year effort to redraw where these venues can operate failed in August, with no agreement between Rome and the regions. Without new tenders, the state has to extend the concessions and charge for that extension; the current extension brings in about $260 million a year.
4. Lucas Zavarise of Gaming Laboratories International says the reports point to brick-and-mortar retail. The draft appears to contemplate more expensive extensions and a possible 1-point increase in the PREU, the levy on machine bets and the Treasury’s main tool. For online gambling, he expects only limited changes.
5. Quirino Mancini of WH Partners says the target looks achievable through higher taxes on physical machines and higher extension fees. Stefano Sbordoni of Sbordoni & Partners says payment extensions are unavoidable, but warns they could damage a business already under strain. The numbers back that up: slot machine revenue fell 5.7% in the second quarter, according to the ADM regulator, and the Court of Accounts estimates gambling tax revenue fell by about $223 million in eight months.

Giulio Coraggio of DLA Piper is even more skeptical that the money will actually arrive. He says the target is unattainable as the government has framed it. In practice, the mechanism matters less than the result: lower margins for operators, worse odds, fewer bonuses, and more players shifting to foreign sites that do not pay tax in Italy. For high-risk payment teams, that is the part to watch: fiscal pressure on regulated channels can quickly spill into merchant performance, retention, and migration to offshore supply.