Polish gambling trade bodies oppose EU-wide 1% tax on licensed online operators

Four Polish gambling organisations have issued a joint statement against the European Parliament’s proposed 1% blanket tax on licensed online gambling in Europe. Their main point is simple enough: if Brussels wants to harmonise the tax burden, it should not leave member states with fragmented rules and enforcement while illegal operators keep doing what they already do.

1. The proposal was first brought forward at the start of 2026 by Victor Negrescu, Vice President of the European Parliament, as one of the additional revenue streams for the EU’s 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework. The idea is a 1% blanket tax on the licensed online gambling sector in Europe.
2. In June, Negrescu’s office told SBC News that the proposal had not been outright denied and was gaining momentum at political levels in Brussels. Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, later said the EU Commission is looking at all budgeting options, including the collective gambling levy.
3. Malta and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) have already opposed the measure, and the Polish stakeholders have now added their weight. In their statement, they said they “strongly” oppose the tax because it would add financial pressure on the sector and infringe on fair competition.
4. The Polish organisations also pointed to a mismatch between the European Commission and the European Parliament: the gambling tax was not included in the EC’s original EU budget package presented in 2025, while the EP continues to promote it as a source of budget revenue.
5. If the collective tax goes to a vote, the Polish stakeholders want uniform EU-wide rules to protect legal gambling businesses from unfair competition by illegal operators. Their argument is that no legal operator can operate in all member states at the same time, while illegal entities can.

The fiscal burden point is doing a lot of work here. According to the statement, licensed operators in Poland already pay 12% tax on turnover, which can consume more than 50% of an operator’s GGR. That sits on top of the costs of running regulated gambling activity, which is exactly the sort of structure payments people look at when deciding whether a market is worth the compliance and processing headache.