Italy’s budget draft projects €2.59bn from gambling measures in 2027-2029

Italy's draft 2027 budget projects €2,586.63m in gambling-related revenue across 2027-2029, according to figures attributed to the budget's technical report. The total comprises €952.13m in 2027, €776.63m in 2028 and €857.87m in 2029. The estimate sums measures of differing nature and duration and does not represent only an increase in taxes, the report states.

Slot and VLT measures account for about €1,655m, or 64% of the total, the largest share. The report puts €1,155m over the three years from PREU and machine-parameter changes, rising from €334m in 2027 to €456m in 2029. The calculation assumes a 25% PREU on AWP machines and 9.60% on VLTs, a 20% rate for AWP machines with a payout of at least 70%, and higher stake and prize limits. For upgraded AWP machines, the document assumes turnover more than 30% above a scenario without the measures and take-up reaching all machines from 2029.

Concession extensions and related fees total €490.5m in 2027: €114.5m from betting, €166.5m from AWP and VLT networks, €21.5m from bingo and €188m from Gratta e Vinci. A recalculation of earlier bingo fees adds €4.64m in 2027. The betting, machine-network and bingo amounts are spread across the extension period, while the Gratta e Vinci fee is paid entirely in 2027 although it concerns an extension of the concession from 30 September 2028 to 31 December 2029.

A fifth weekly Lotto and SuperEnalotto draw is projected to produce €116.7m in additional state profit over the three years: €30.5m in the first year and €43.1m in each of the next two. The estimate assumes 8.5 months of activity in 2027 and additional turnover of 4% compared with 2025. LAN rooms, through entertainment tax and authorisation contributions, total €128.17m over the three years, with the difference between 2028 and 2029 reflecting the two-yearly schedule of the contributions; the estimates assume growth from 200 rooms initially to 2,300 at full operation, in the absence of certain data on current spread.

Regularisation of the categories of machines without cash winnings identified in the draft is valued at €15m in 2027 alone, through a one-off payment of €1,000 for each of the 15,000 machines assumed. The total also includes €71.62m of debts relating to the 2015 una tantum, recovered in 2027 through reductions scaled to previous compliance and the withdrawal of disputes. Excluding that item, the first-year figure falls to €880.51m, which likewise combines estimated additional revenue, concession fees and other income rather than representing the tax increase alone.