SAPAR president criticises Italy budget’s effect on gaming machines
Regulation2 min read
At SiGMA 2026 in Rome, SAPAR president Sergio D’Angelo said Italy’s budget law includes a 70% payout and a PREU reduction, which he described as positive measures for gaming-machine operators. He argued that the overall tax approach would place greater pressure on the segment and called for a more balanced distribution of tax across legal game types.
Sergio D’Angelo, president of SAPAR, spoke on a panel on the Italian public gaming market at SiGMA 2026 in Rome. He said the budget law has some positive elements for the amusement machine sector but continues to concentrate the tax burden on a segment already under heavy fiscal pressure.
D’Angelo named a 70% payout provision and a reduction in the PREU as positive aspects, saying they meet operators’ needs at least in part. He said the combined changes raise the tax burden on the segment by one percentage point. He said the move from an 11% to a 10% margin resulting from the new measures is a far larger contraction than the one-point difference suggests. He added that the one point corresponds to 10% of takings.
D’Angelo cited a gaming volume of €193bn spread across 33 types of legal game in the Italian market. He referred to an increase in revenue targets from €700m to €900m during the budget discussion. In his view, spreading those targets across all 33 game types would have reduced the economic impact on small businesses. He said he was not necessarily seeking lower taxation than other games, but at least more uniform conditions.
D’Angelo said reduced margins can push business owners to sell, indirectly favouring consolidation of the market around a few large national players. He said SAPAR is fully aligned with the concerns raised by ACADI-Confcommercio. D’Angelo also said that SAPAR’s partnership with SiGMA helped create two pavilions devoted to the Italian market.