Italy’s 2027 budget bill offers concessionaires debt reductions on 2015 levy

Italy's 2027 budget law introduces a settlement procedure for unpaid amounts of the 2015 one-off levy owed by operators in the gaming-machine supply chain. The measure applies to total residual debt of €89.47m. Concessionaires can obtain a reduction of the amount still owed, capped at 20% overall, together with a waiver of interest. The benefit depends on the concessionaire giving up ongoing litigation and any new proceedings.

For each concessionaire, the balance owed is lowered by a percentage that results from multiplying how much of the original sum it has paid by the maximum reduction rate. That maximum rate is set so that all reductions together stay within 20% of the total residual amount of €89.47m, which the text works out as €17.85m. The customs and monopolies agency is to communicate the amount owed by 10 June. The concessionaire then pays in three instalments of equal size, falling due on the sixtieth, one-hundred-twentieth and one-hundred-eightieth day after that communication. Missing any instalment deadline triggers collection proceedings for the entire original amount with interest, less what has already been paid. Positions that were already fully settled when the rules take effect fall outside their scope.

The original provision foresaw a total payment of €500m, derived from a reduction in the fee due to gaming-machine concessionaires. Because of litigation, the concessionaires' overall payment, made partly on behalf of other supply-chain operators, was only partly completed. The text describes collection of the unpaid €89.47m as problematic. It states that the aim of the settlement is to recover the sums due and avoid the uncertainty of continued litigation. The proposal estimates recovery of 80% of the outstanding sums, about €71.62m, in 2027.