Lower house of Parliament approved new law in gaming

The lower house of Parliament has approved proposed new legislation on gaming and lotteries. The law should come into force next year. Among other things, the new legislation allows foreign online betting companies onto the Czech market and allows illegal betting web pages to be blocked. As of 2017, gambling will also be subject to two tax rates, 35 percent applying on gaming machines and 23 percent on the other types of gambling. The new legislation also only permits venues to have 15 gaming machines or more, which could lead to the closure of some 80 percent of the country’s gaming bars. Currently, there are currently 4,900 gaming bars in the Czech Republic and only about 800 of them meet that requirement.

Author: Ruth Fraňková