Italy's Treasury Says a Higher Slot Levy Could Cost Revenue as It Weighs €1bn From Gambling

The Economy Ministry has told MPs that raising the levy on AWP slot machines from 24% to 26% risks shrinking play enough to lose money, killing an opposition plan to fund carers from it. The same ministry is reported to be looking for up to €1 billion from gambling in the 2027 Budget.

• Economy Undersecretary Lucia Albano told the Chamber of Deputies' Budget Committee on 13 October that raising the levy on AWP slot machines from 24% to 26% could not fund a €940 million a year caregiver scheme, because the higher rate risks cutting stakes enough to cancel the extra revenue and reduce total tax receipts
• The committee gave a contrary opinion on amendments 14.4 and 16.2 by Democratic Party deputy Marco Furfaro and the identical 16.1000 by Five Star Movement deputy Marianna Ricciardi; the Chamber passed the government's caregiver bill on 14 October, 153 votes to 105, with €260 million a year from 2027
• AWP stakes fell from €22.9 billion in 2019 to €14.9 billion in 2025 and the machines' tax take from €4.9 billion to €3.6 billion, according to the ministry's report to Parliament as described by PressGiochi; two extra points on 2025 stakes would raise about €298 million before any fall in play
• The ministry is reported to be seeking up to €1 billion from gambling for the 2027 Budget Law, from online gaming, the tax on winnings and a fee-paying extension of the land-based concessions, but no measure is yet in a text
• The communications regulator AGCOM is preparing a 30-day consultation on stricter rules for gambling "infotainment" sites linked to operators, its media services director Davide Gallino said on 14 October

The Treasury Tells MPs the Slot Machine Levy May Have Reached Its Limit

On Tuesday 13 October the Budget Committee (V Commissione Bilancio) of Italy's Chamber of Deputies examined amendments to the government's bill on family caregivers, C. 2789. The rapporteur, Vanessa Cattoi of Lega, flagged Furfaro's amendment 14.4, a contribution for caregivers with a heavy care load and an ISEE household means indicator of no more than €30,000, costed at €940 million a year, and the identical 16.2 and 16.1000, a fund of the same size at the Ministry of Labour, according to the committee's bulletin.

All three would pay for it by raising the single levy on stakes (prelievo erariale unico, PREU) on AWP machines, defined in Article 110(6)(a) of the public security law, from 24% to 26% from 1 July 2026, a date already passed. Cattoi asked whether that would raise at least the sum required.

Albano said it would not. The AWP sector, she said, has already been subject to repeated tax increases, and a further rise in the rate risks a contraction in volumes of play large enough to cancel the expected gain in revenue, producing an overall reduction in tax receipts, according to the bulletin. The committee approved Cattoi's contrary opinion on the three amendments, and on dozens of others, as carrying new costs without adequate quantification or cover. Agipronews reported the exchange on 14 October.

The Chamber approved the bill the next day, 14 October, by 153 votes to 105, Vita reported, with €260 million a year from 2027 for a contribution of up to €1,200 a quarter to a cohabiting main caregiver providing at least 91 hours of care a week. It now goes to the Senate.

A Shrinking Base

The Treasury's argument rests on numbers it has itself published. In its first report to Parliament on public gaming, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) put AWP stakes at €14.9 billion in 2025, down from €22.9 billion in 2019, and AWP tax revenue at €3.6 billion, down from €4.9 billion, according to PressGiochi, which saw the report in April. Video lottery terminal stakes fell less, from €23.6 billion to €16.5 billion. The report attributes the decline to the national cut in machine numbers from 2017, local limits on hours and distances, a heavy tax load compared with online products and a pandemic that sped the shift to digital channels.

The PREU is charged on stakes, not margin: at 24% of AWP stakes it absorbs about 70% of gross margin, with machines returning 65% of stakes to players, tax law lecturer Ezio Stellato told Teleborsa in April 2025.

The Budget Will Look Elsewhere in the Sector

The government aims to raise up to €1 billion over two years from gambling for the 2027 Budget Law, Agipronews reported on 14 October, citing Il Sole 24 Ore, with options including online gaming, a revision of how winnings are taxed and paid extensions of the concessions, possibly with the tender for the scratch-card concession Brightstar holds until 30 September 2028. Agimeg, citing Sky TG24, put the contribution at about €1 billion; Jamma reported that no decisions had been taken. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has said that "everyone who can will contribute", and the bill is expected in the Chamber around 28 October, according to Agipronews.

Advertising rules are moving too. Gallino told a Fondazione FAIR event in Rome on 14 October that AGCOM's consultation on infotainment guidelines would last 30 days. To stay outside the 2018 Dignity Decree's advertising ban, operator-linked sites are likely to need a real newsroom with an editor in charge and to drop redirects and operator branding, Agipronews reported on 15 October. The text has not yet been published.

The Treasury Has Written Down a Ceiling on the Machine Levy

The opinion matters beyond a carers' bill because it puts the government on record, in a parliamentary document, saying that a further increase in the AWP rate risks losing money. Operators make that argument about every machine tax; it is unusual to hear it from the ministry that collects it. The ministry's own figures support it at the margin: AWP stakes have fallen by about 35% since 2019 while rate rises lifted the share taken, and the tax take still fell by about €1.3 billion. On 2025 stakes, two extra points would raise about €298 million if nobody played less, roughly a third of the €940 million the amendments counted on. Britain is having the same argument in reverse, with the industry warning that doubling Machine Games Duty would cost the Treasury money while online duty receipts doubled at the higher rate.

Fees and Online Are the Easier Targets

If the machine rate is off the table, the reported options point to concession fees and online. A paid extension of the land-based concessions that expire on 31 December 2026, a sector the courts are already shaping, raises money without touching any game's rate. Online is where play has moved, by the ministry's own account, which makes it the natural base for a higher levy, although operators that paid for nine-year licences would be likely to object. Until the budget text is published, the figures remain reported plans rather than measures.

Italy's Treasury has told Parliament that the slot machine levy may have reached diminishing returns. The budget will show whether that ceiling protects the machine sector or simply moves the bill to online and the concessions.