Earnings improve for legal bookmakers in Poland

The newly amended Gambling Act in Poland proving to be a blessing for the legal bookmakers in Poland. Their revenue has clearly improved. Legal bookmakers had posted record earnings in 2018.

Poland has a high turnover tax of 12 per cent. It also has some restrictive provisions regarding bookmaking advertising. However, none of this hinder the growth of the betting industry. In 2018, the licensed bookmakers in Poland posted a turnover of PLN 5.1 billion. It was PLN 3.3 billion in 2017 and PLN 1.7 billion in 2016.

According to information published by the tax portal of the Ministry of Finance, the revenue from the mutual wagering tax in 2016 amounted to PLN 196.6 million. In 2017, the State Treasury recorded income higher by 210.7 million PLN (407.36 million PLN, an increase of 94 per cent year-on-year). Data for the first three quarters of 2018 indicate another increase in budget revenues—the State Treasury has been credited with the amount of PLN 445 million. The Ministry of Finance has not yet published the results for the last quarter of 2018, but crossing the barrier of PLN 600 million can be assumed. Increasing tax receipts and the growing share of the legal entities in the market are also due to the creation of the Registry of Domains Serving the Offering of Gambling Games in contravention to the Act. This register currently has 5,536 records covering companies that offer unlicensed services in violation of gambling law.