Italian government takes 2027 budget bill to cabinet with €718m gaming estimate

Italy's 2027 budget bill is due to go before the Council of Ministers on 27 October, Matteo Salvini said. The bill is the text that will set out how the contribution sought from the gambling sector will be raised and which segments will provide it. The cabinet's approval of the budget had been scheduled for 23 October but was delayed by several days because of negotiations with Brussels and internal discussion within the majority on spending priorities.

The budget planning document (DPB) 2027, approved by the Council of Ministers on 13 October and sent to the European Commission and the chambers on 15 October, states that measures affecting the financial sector and gambling contribute to financing the budget. Its table on the estimated impact attributes to gambling measures a structural effect, not a one-off one, equal to 0.03% of GDP in 2027 and 2028 and 0.02% in 2029. In euro terms, as read from the document, that corresponds to €718m in 2027, €718m in 2028 and €478m in 2029.

Over the three years the gambling sector is therefore expected to provide just over €1.9bn, within a budget estimated at about €23.5bn. The largest single source of resources remains the financial sector, put at 0.21% of GDP for 2027 in the DPB. The DPB does not say which segments will be asked to contribute or by what instruments the contribution will be collected, and it states that the precise definition of the measures will depend on the still-open discussion with European institutions on the scope of the national safeguard clause for defence and energy.

Only the text emerging from Palazzo Chigi will show whether the €718m estimate is confirmed. Early reports in September on the 2027 budget and a possible extension of retail network concessions indicated that continuity of revenue was the executive's main objective. In the first seven months of the year, tax revenue from the gambling sector was about €4.3bn, down 6.2% year on year, with amusement machines in decline.

After review by the Council of Ministers, the budget bill will go to parliament for approval, which must be completed by 31 December. The DPB is meanwhile under examination by the Senate budget committee, and the European Commission is to give its opinion on the document.