Swedish parliament considers lowering gambling tax
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7 Oct 2024 •
Reading time: 2 minutes The Swedish parliament, the Riksdagen, will soon discuss an important question: should gambling tax be lowered? The idea comes from Carl Nordblom, a politician from the Moderate Party.
The striking thing is that the tax was only raised three months ago, from 18% to 22%. And now there is already a proposal on the table to reverse that.
Lower tax to bring players back
Nordblom has a clear goal in mind. According to him, lower taxes can ensure that more Swedish players choose licensed gambling sites in their own country.
The problem is that many players now try their luck at foreign gambling sites, which do not have a Swedish license. This is mainly because the taxes for gambling companies are so high there.
How tax and player behavior are related
On October 2, Nordblom submitted his proposal, in which he also calls for a thorough investigation. He wants parliament to look at how the level of tax affects where people gamble. The goal? Attracting more players to the legal Swedish gambling market.
“Most gambling companies have already warned that the percentage of players on the Swedish market is decreasing,” Nordblom’s motion states. And that is worrying, because it causes more and more Swedish gamblers to switch to foreign sites that operate without a Swedish license.
Foreign gambling sites are becoming more attractive to Sweden
This is a major problem, because the more players find their way to foreign gambling sites, the less control the Swedish government has over the safety and regulations surrounding gambling.
This can have negative consequences for the protection of players, who are then less protected against, for example, addiction or fraudulent practices. In short, according to Nordblom, lowering the tax may well be the way to get players back to the Swedish gambling market.