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Bulgarian Prime Minister Orders Lawmakers to Raise Gambling Taxes
SOFIA, BULGARIA --
The Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Boyko Borisov, told the country's Parliament that it needed to reconsider a decision to leave gaming taxes untouched. The legislature complied with Borisov's wishes, and raised taxes on sports betting, casino gambling, lottery play and bingo to 15 percent of revenue.
Previously, sports betting had been taxed at 10 percent, and other gambling at 12 percent. According to figures released by the Bulgarian Finance Ministry, the added tax should result in over $9 million extra annually for national coffers.
Gaming industry officials opposed the move, saying it could prove counterproductive. With figures across gambling businesses showing revenue down by as much as 40 percent since the onset of the recession, many say the additional tax will force closure of some gambling outlets, resulting in additional unemployment.
Borisov said the added tax was necessary, especially in light of the legislature's decision to not raise liquor taxes. Also, lawmakers had attempted to remove laws assisting first-time mortgage applicants to save money, but Borisov insisted the alleviations remain.
Eurofootball, a sports bookmaking firm, said much more money could be raised if the country regulated online gambling, with less harm to Bulgarian operators. Currently, there is no regulation of online casinos in Bulgaria.
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