Betting tax bill must go to European Commission

Betting tax legislation should be forwarded to the European Commission three months before being passed into law, president of the National Betting Authority Ioanna Fiakkou has said.

Speaking at the House finance committee on Monday, Fiakkou said this position was based on an opinion drafted by the authority’s legal advisor.

The committee began discussing a proposed amendment, according to which the percentage of net revenue from betting, submitted by the Cyprus Sports Organisation and allocated to football teams and their academies, is increased from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent.

Fiakkou said that based on the opinion, with which the Law Office disagreed, the tax increase must be submitted to the European Commission, due to an online betting issue.

She reminded that there had been a complaint to the commission when the 2012 law had been amended in 2019.

Concerns were voiced at Monday’s meeting regarding support given to football clubs, as they were private companies, many of which still owe taxes.

Director of financial management of the central government directorate at the finance ministry, Lucy Herodotou Mouskou, said a plan has been in place since March 2023, by which the taxes owed could be paid over a period of 14 years.