TIRANA, Feb. 18 – Government has approved a new draft law on gambling which targets reducing the high informality in this booming industry and the negative social impacts among gamblers by transferring casinos from downtown highly populated areas to tourist attractions.
“The tough criteria set for the licensing of operators, shareholders and administrators of gambling activities as well as higher licence fees will reduce the gambling market in Albania, increase its quality and promote responsible gaming,” says the draft law.
The bill which has already been submitted to Parliament after being approved by government limits the geographical location of casinos only to areas determined for tourism development and sets restrictions for the booming sports betting industry.
Government has set a maximum number of 500 sports betting halls at a distance of not less than 200 metres.
Licence fees range from Euro 280,000 to Euro 7 million.
For sports betting the fee for a 10 year licence will be 200 million lek (Euro 1.4 million). The 10-year licence for the TV bingo will be at 40 million lek (Euro 280,000).
Licence fees for casinos and national lotteries range from 40 million lek to 1 billion lek (Euro 7 million) for casino resorts.
The bill also bans gambling activities next to religious institutions and schools and universities as well as online gambling.
Gambling operators will have to keep a register of gamblers and limit their participation in case of requests by gamblers themselves or family members.
The novelty of this draft law is the establishment of an on-line central monitoring system which will be operated by the Supervision Unit of the Games of Chance to prevent tax evasion.
Gambling activities pay 25 percent of the gross income in taxes, 3 percent of their turnover to the Supervision Unit, and 0.2 of their annual turnover to the sports ministry.
Casinos and resort casinos will also pay 0.2 percent of their annual turnover to the Tourism Ministry.
The draft has also made fines to gambling activities tougher by increasing them from 500,000 lek (Euro 3,500) to 1 million lek (Euro 7,000) compared to a maximum of 500,000 lek currently.
Government expects to collect around 4.1 billion (Euro 28.7 million) in gambling taxes for 2015 when several licence fees will be collected.
A widespread phenomenon
Casinos and sports betting shops continue packing the country’s streets despite a nationwide campaign launched in late 2013 which closed down several unlicensed casinos.
While a new tax on casinos operating in downtown Tirana has been in force since mid-2013, casino owners seem to prefer continuing paying more rather than transferring their businesses outside the capital and pay less in taxes.
A 2013 decision by the Municipality of Tirana envisaged transferring casinos to the former auto-tractors plant in Shkoza just outside the city to facilities owned by the municipality, offering casino owners reduced taxes.
Gambling is a booming business in Albania and varies from casinos to sports betting. Albania has one casino, more than 20 bookmakers, 22 companies that organize gambling games and nine offering lottery tickets. Thousands of betting shops are scattered across the country. A gambling law, which has been in force for the past two years, bans people under 18 from entering betting shops. Regardless, teenagers are often seen there.
The gambling sector is considered one of the most informal in Albania although generating more than 100 million euros annually in turnover.
An IMF report has identified illegal gambling establishments and exchange bureaus, as well as the vulnerabilities that relate to cross-border transportation of currency as illegal practices which put Albania at risk of money laundering activity.
