Czech Gambling Taxes Could Cause Problems for Betting Firms

There is intense competition for the income to be gained from internet gambling companies, and many of them have set up their base in the Czech Republic lately. However, it seems that some of the firms are now unhappy with the amount of tax they are having to pay out over there.

They now have to pay 20% tax on all gross wins and the corporate income tax rate now stands at 19%. When compared to a county such as Poland, this is double the rate the firms could expect to pay there, while it is almost four times as much as the tax charged by Slovakia.

A 35% Drop in Net Profits

One example of an online betting company unhappy with the Czech tax situation is that of the Fortuna Entertainment Group. Their CFO is called Michael Veprek and he said that his firm handed over a massive figure of over €4 million in taxes in just the first six months of 2012. He also said that the amount of tax they paid was part of the reason that their net profits fell by almost 35%.

The Chairman of the same firm is called Wilf Walsh, and he said that they may be ready to move their operations to Malta if there is no improvement in the Czech tax rates. He confirmed that they expect to make the proposal of the shift to Malta in their next shareholder’s Annual General Meeting if nothing has changed by then, saying that they have a safe haven to move to if this happens.