Italy weighs changes to proposed PREU rises on slots and VLTs
Regulation2 min read
In brief
- Italy's 2027 budget reportedly proposes raising the PREU levy on AWP and VLT machines, drawing sector opposition.
- Reports say a one-percentage-point increase for both machine types may be reduced, but no official text confirms it.
- Operators want rules and technical criteria set in advance for a proposed trial of a new machine type.
- The budget text was expected between Saturday and Sunday, a day after Council of Ministers approval.
Italy's 2027 budget proposal reportedly includes a possible increase to the prelievo erariale unico (PREU) levy on AWP and VLT machines, a measure that has drawn opposition from representatives of the machine-gaming sector. No official draft of the budget has been published, and the text was expected only between Saturday and Sunday, a day after the Council of Ministers gave its approval.
According to the latest reports, work during the day focused on revising the measure, with consideration of reducing by one percentage point the increase initially envisaged for both types of machine. The possible reduction has not been confirmed in an official text, leaving the size of the fiscal intervention open.
Sector representatives opposed the levy proposal, citing the economic consequences for management companies, employment and the sustainability of the authorised network. The reports say the increase was intended to help fund the budget law's financial cover.
A separate proposal for a regulated trial of a new type of gaming machine met no prejudicial opposition, but operators received it with caution and asked for rules, technical criteria and operating conditions to be defined in advance. The concern is that without a sufficiently clear regulatory and implementing framework the trial could stall on technical difficulties, requirements and delays, as happened in the past when new solutions were introduced to the regulated market.
Two issues remain open pending the budget text: the tax increase, which is the focus of the companies' protest, and the innovation of the offering, on which the sector is asking above all for certainty of rules and defined implementation times.