The exchange of views continues between ATG CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth and Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of BOS – The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling.

In an op-ed in Sweden’s only daily business paper Dagens Industri published on December 19, Skarplöth once again pleads for an increase in gambling tax to 26 percent for all types of gambling with the exception of betting on horses. Skarplöth advocates that betting on horses should receive a reduced tax to 18 percent.

In Dagens Industri on December 22, the Secretary General of BOS responds. In addition to what has been previously presented, such as that an increase in gambling tax would lead to a decrease in the proportion of legally licensed gambling in favour of unlicensed gambling, BOS also raises the competition law aspect. BOS points out that a differentiated gambling tax that would in practice exclusively benefit a single gambling company constitutes state aid and would thus violate EU law.

“In addition to weakening the competitiveness of the legal licensing system, by creating additional incentives for gambling consumers to choose the zero-taxed unlicensed gambling market, a system with a differentiated gambling tax would place Sweden in a legal dispute with the EU. We should avoid that,” says BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt.

“I hope we don’t have to hear this harmful proposal for a particularly favourable tax for ATG put forward again. This industry, the gambling industry, needs actors who take responsibility for the functioning of the entire Swedish gambling market. That leadership is crucial for consumer protection to be able to reach all gambling consumers regardless of the type of game they choose to play. Market shares should be won by offering safe and fun gambling experiences, not by usurping special government benefits and privileges for an individual gambling company,” Hoffstedt concludes.

ATG’s op-ed is published here

BOS’s op-ed is published here

BOS’s op-ed in translated to English here