Bulgaria changes tack

Bulgaria’s government are to halve the country’s proposed gambling industry tax rate after realizing that no foreign companies would pay the 15 percent of stakes originally proposed. Instead operators will now pay 6 to 8 percent of stakes after a source from the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee told Bulgaria on Air: “No foreign operator would come to Bulgaria, because the taxation would be very high. In practice the tax in Bulgaria is twice bigger that in France or Malta”. A Blacklist will still be in place for firms that don’t have a licence with ISPs facing £8,500 fines if they fail to prevent players using banned sites.