Italy weighs €1bn gambling tax input for Budget 2027

Italy’s Ministry of Finance and Economy (MEF) is projecting €1bn in revenue from gambling companies for 2027-to-2028 as part of the Meloni government’s Budget Law settlement for 2027. For PSPs and operators, the important part is not the headline number alone, but the direction of travel: tighter licensing economics, new audit rules, and fresh technical standards are all being folded into the model.

1. The €1bn target sits inside a broader revenue plan that aims to raise between €7bn-€8bn, with banks, insurance companies and energy businesses also expected to contribute. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has said that “everyone who can, will contribute”, as the government looks to fund spending commitments under constrained public-service expenditure.
2. The MEF says the €1bn forecast tied to the 2026 Budget takes into account significant reforms to online gambling licensing, the way licences are audited, and new technical standards for Italian gambling. In practice, that means the fiscal burden is being shaped alongside the compliance framework, not after it.
3. In November 2025, a new licensing regime with an annual fee of €7m came into effect. The MEF will apply new auditing measures to that regime, including how it assesses the impact audits have on online gambling accounts. A new auditing structure for online gambling concessions will also change how winnings and withdrawals are accounted for by operators, alongside higher charges for extending existing gambling concessions.
4. One separate funding option still under discussion is the tender for Italy’s Instant-win and scratchcard concession. Parliament has yet to decide whether it will allow the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) to launch the process. The current lottery concession is operated by Lotterie Nazionali, a joint-venture formed by Brightstar Lottery, Scientific Games, Arianna and Allwyn.
5. If that concession is brought forward, the expiry date would move from 2028 to 2027 under a Budget 2027 proposal, and the MEF and ADM are seeking a stewardship contract worth approximately €1bn. None of the reported measures has final rates, charges or an implementation timetable yet, so for licence holders this is still a menu of options, not a done deal.

For high-risk payment providers, the practical read-through is straightforward: Italy is tying gambling revenue to licensing friction, audit scope and concession economics at the same time. That usually means operators need to plan for narrower margins, and PSPs need to watch for knock-on effects in account monitoring, settlement assumptions and concession renewal timelines.