Italy budget day: Gambling’s €700 million bill could fall on lotteries and online
Italy’s gambling sector could fund its roughly €700 million share of the 2027 budget through the aggio, the commission on lottery sales, and through online gaming, according to financial daily Milano Finanza. The breakdown appears as a single line in the paper’s wider budget coverage. Until now, reports had said the mechanism was undecided.
If confirmed, it would shift the burden away from land-based retail. The detail is still pre-Cabinet reporting, however, and the final text may differ.
Cabinet is due to meet at noon today (28 October), Il Sole 24 Ore reported via LaPresse, although the timing has slipped repeatedly. The €23.5 billion package relies on around €5 billion from banks and insurers, according to Sky TG24. Sources in the governing majority say a planned income tax cut for earners above €50,000 has been dropped.
A rounded figure, an open question
The €700 million is a rounded figure. The draft budgetary plan sent to Brussels puts gambling’s contribution at €718 million in 2027 and 2028 and €478 million in 2029 – close to €1.9 billion over three years.
The Milano Finanza line also conflicts with other recent reports. Yesterday, Agimeg described scenarios built around a one-point rise in PREU, Italy’s levy on gaming machine stakes, and much costlier concession extensions. Jamma reported that a smaller PREU increase was meeting resistance within the governing majority.
What’s at stake for each segment
The lottery angle raises contractual questions. The Lotto concession was re-awarded in 2025 to the LottoItalia consortium, led by IGT, for nine years at a fixed 6% aggio. Changing that rate during the concession could be legally difficult. A lower aggio would also cut the share of takings kept by operators and their retail networks.
Online operators would face new costs on top of existing ones. Licences under the regime that went live in November 2025 cost €7 million each. Licensees also pay an annual concession fee of 3% of net margin. They must certify their systems under new technical rules by 15 February 2027, and Italy’s Dignity Decree still bans gambling advertising.
Land-based operators are not off the hook either. Licences for slots, retail betting and bingo expire on 31 December 2026, so another paid extension is needed regardless. The current extension raises about €232.76 million a year.
Retail groups had feared a bigger share of the bill. Dario Peirone, director general of think tank Istituto Milton Friedman, warned last week that further tax tightening “would spell the final collapse of land-based gambling”.
Italy and the UK both set gambling taxes today, with Chancellor John Healey widely expected to raise machine games duty in his first autumn budget. Once Italy’s Cabinet approves the bill, it goes to parliament, and operators will only know where the burden lands when the text is published.