Italy's Budget Bill Seeks €700m From Gambling as Slot Operators Warn of Collapse

Italy's cabinet has approved a 2027 budget bill that Giorgia Meloni says draws €700 million from gambling. The measures are unpublished, and slot concessionaires say those reported would switch off their network.

• Italy's Council of Ministers approved the 2027 budget bill on 28 October and lists gaming among the main sources of funding
• Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said €700 million would come from gambling, but the measures are unpublished and Parliament must still pass the bill
• Jamma, citing an unfinished draft, reports one-point rises in the levy on AWP and VLT machines and paid extensions of retail concessions to 2029
• The machine concessionaires' association ACADI warns this would put most of the network out of the market, costing the state about €5 billion a year
• Two weeks ago the Treasury itself warned that a higher slot levy could reduce receipts

Rome Approves the Bill but Not Yet the Detail

Italy's Council of Ministers approved the 2027 budget bill on 28 October, according to the government's communiqué. It values the package at about €26 billion in 2027 and €27 billion in 2028, funded mainly by activating budget clauses and by higher revenue from the financial, gaming and energy sectors. It describes no gambling measure.

At the press conference after the meeting, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said energy companies would contribute about €700 million and that "another 700 million come from the gaming sector". She said the budget was "not against anyone". Jamma reported that the October budget planning document expected about €700 million a year from the sector in 2027 and 2028 and €500 million in 2029.

What the Draft Reportedly Contains

No text has been published. Jamma, citing leaks of a text it describes as not yet final, reports that retail concessions would be extended to 31 December 2029 for about €305 million in 2027, of which €280 million from slots and betting and €25 million from bingo. The levy on AWP slot machines, the PREU, would rise from 24% to 25% of stakes for an estimated €150 million, and on video lottery terminals (VLTs) from 8.6% to 9.6% for €165 million. Brightstar's Gratta e Vinci scratch-card concession would run 15 months longer for about €150 million paid in advance. Jamma puts the total at about €770 million in 2027, with AWP payouts and eSports also under study.

Agimeg, citing Il Sole 24 Ore, reports a 1% PREU rise on slots and VLTs, costlier three-year extensions for betting, bingo and machines, a regularisation of LAN gaming rooms and a fifth weekly Lotto and SuperEnalotto draw. The paper suggests the €700 million could rise. Agimeg reported on 28 October that online gaming could see only minor changes and that nothing was final. On 27 October Jamma reported a rise of 0.5 to 0.7 points under discussion, with doubts in part of the majority and at the customs and monopolies agency (ADM).

ACADI Says the Network Cannot Carry It

On 28 October ACADI, the association of entertainment machine concessionaires, responded to leaks of one more PREU point on AWPs and VLTs and a three-year extension at costs "much higher" than in 2024. It says 2024's price suited a market that no longer exists: player spending on machines fell 24% between 2018 and 2025, machines' share of gaming fell from 55% to 36%, and the tax they generate fell from €6.2 billion to €5.0 billion. AWP stakes were down a further 9.9% year on year in August 2026, it says, and even at 2024 prices an average AWP and an average VLT would end the year at a loss.

"We are not asking for discounts, we are asking not to switch off a supply chain that guarantees the state billions in revenue every year," said ACADI president Geronimo Cardia, adding that an unsustainable levy "does not increase revenue: it wipes it out".

The Levy Estimates Assume Players Stay

The reported €150 million and €165 million equal one point on 2025 AWP and VLT stakes of €14.9 billion and €16.5 billion, the figures in an Economy Ministry report to Parliament published by PressGiochi. They assume play does not fall. ACADI's August figure suggests it already is, and on 13 October Economy Undersecretary Lucia Albano told the Chamber's Budget Committee that a two-point rise could cut play enough to reduce total receipts.

ACADI's €5bn Is a Worst Case, Not a Forecast

The headline loss equals the entire tax take from machines in 2025 on ACADI's own numbers, so it assumes the whole network goes dark. That is a lobby's opening position, and its workings are unpublished. The direction is not in dispute, however: the ministry's report shows AWP stakes down about 35% between 2019 and 2025.

The Extension Is the Surer Money

Concession fees are paid upfront and do not depend on play, which makes them the most reliable part of the package. If the extension to 2029 is confirmed, the retail tender that courts have been shaping would slip again, to 2030 at the earliest, in Italy.

Rome has a revenue number and no published measures. Parliament, which must pass the bill by 31 December, now decides whether the money comes from upfront concession fees or from a slot levy that the Treasury itself doubts.