Italy’s 2027 budget proposal would raise AWP and VLT tax rates
Regulation2 min read
Italy’s 2027 budget proposal is reported to include higher PREU rates on AWP machines and VLTs, alongside other gaming-sector measures. The reported rates would rise from 24% to 25% for AWP and from 8.6% to 9.6% for VLT, generating about €315m in 2027; the article says the draft text was not yet available and reports differing estimates for the total measures.
Italy's Council of Ministers approved the 2027 budget bill on 28 October, the prime minister said at a press conference. She said more than €700m would come from the gaming sector. The bill text was not yet available, and the latest reconstructions suggested it would arrive over the weekend.
Totals differ across the reconstructions published after the Council meeting, with estimates running from roughly 750 million to over 900 million annually. All versions agree on who would bear most of the burden: land-based gaming concessions and the Gratta e Vinci. A paid extension of betting, bingo and machine concessions until 31 December 2029 would supply the rest. A upfront payment to lengthen the Gratta e Vinci concession by fifteen months would add to that. Among the less settled ideas is a fifth Lotto draw. For online gaming the reconstructions give no figures, speaking only of modest changes that also touch the taxation of winnings.
The Documento programmatico di bilancio sent to Brussels in mid-October had already listed the gaming measures among non-one-off revenues, at 0.03% of GDP in 2027 and in 2028. Once the text reaches the Chambers, Parliament will have until 31 December to approve it and can amend it.
According to the Agency's Libro Blu, wagering on entertainment machines, AWP and VLT combined, fell by 3.26% in 2024. ACADI, the association of machine concessionaires, warned that with one more point of PREU and costlier extensions an average AWP would end the year at a loss.