ROMANIAN OPERATORS FACE TAX HIKE

Posted 1/19/11 : Appeal on grounds of unconstitutional imposition fails
 
The attempt by the Romanian Gambling Association to head off a tax hike it claims was unconstitutional failed this week when the courts ruled it out of order.
 
According to reports in Mediafax, the government issued a decree in June 2009 arbitrarily setting the licence fee for casinos at 400,000 lei (around Euro 95 000) and raising the annual tax for each table in a casino to between RON200,000 to RON250,000 in Bucharest, and from RON100,000 to RON120,000 in the rest of the Eastern European country.
 
The decree also set an annual tax of RON8,000 for each slot-machine type device and a license fee of RON25,000 for slot-machine games, along with a tax of RON30,000 for each gambling hall hosting bingo games. The taxes are added to the upfront deposit paid to the State Treasury, representing 5 percent of the nominal value of cards bought from the National Printing House.