Italy’s 2027 budget bill proposes higher gaming levies and revised machine limits
Regulation3 min read
Italy’s 2027-2029 budget bill, submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, proposes changes to gaming machines and other gambling products, according to the explanatory report by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. The bill would raise maximum AWP stakes to €2 and prizes to €200, while increasing PREU rates to 25% for AWP and 9.6% for VLT; qualifying AWP would receive a five-percentage-point tax reduction.
Italy's 2027-2029 budget bill has been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, together with an explanatory report by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. Chapter IV of the bill groups the provisions on gaming and smoking products.
Article 23 covers entertainment machines that pay cash prizes, and it changes the stake and prize limits on AWP machines as well as the PREU rates. For AWP machines, the first paragraph sets the maximum cost of a game at €2 and the maximum prize at €200. According to the report, these ceilings have stood since 2006 and the new values are twice the current ones. The PREU rate would go up by one percentage point for both AWP and VLT, from 24% to 25% for AWP and from 8.6% to 9.6% for VLT. The report presents the measure as a way to back wagering volumes and the tax revenue they generate, partly to counter a shift of demand towards the illegal circuit or other forms of gambling.
AWP machines programmed to return at least 70% in winnings would receive a tax reduction. The reduction is five percentage points of PREU during periods of actual operation. Joining the reduced regime is optional and requires an update to the software of the game boards.
Article 24 amends the rules for entertainment machines that do not pay cash prizes. The maximum cost of a game would go from €1 to €2. Because the maximum prize is set at twenty times the cost of a game, the prize ceiling would consequently become €40. The regularisation concerns machines already admitted to a transitional regime under the TULPS, whose effect ends on 31 December 2026. Regularising a machine is conditional on a one-off payment of €1,000 for each device. If a machine is placed somewhere other than the location given in the self-certification submitted to ADM, an administrative fine of between €100 and €500 applies.
Article 25 would introduce specific rules for e-games, which are electronic games without cash prizes used in LAN halls. The provision would apply the entertainment tax (ISI) at a rate of 8%. The average flat-rate annual taxable base would be €15,000 per machine. For large simulators and each of their stations, the taxable base would rise to €25,000. The technical and administrative characteristics would be left to ADM.
Article 26 would extend to 31 December 2029 the betting and physical-network AWP and VLT concessions that expire on 31 December 2026. The report links the extension to the need to ensure continuity of the public service, the protection of legality and the stability of tax revenue. The annual concession charge would be €14,250 per right for outlets whose main activity is selling public gaming products. For outlets where gaming is an ancillary activity, the annual charge would be €8,550. Payment to ADM would be made in two annual instalments, due on 30 April and 31 October. For the AWP and VLT network concessions, payment would be made in nine equal instalments, three for each year of the extension.