Is this the end.

They most certainly wil be making a statement. it will be along the lines of 'Coming soon - more opportunity to make money, 100 new casino games to play (just as soon as our web designers have worked out how to release something without it fecking up within mins of start up).'

all of the in the eec.ireland,spain,greece,and portugal are all to be run be germany from january 2013.

france are pushing for a finance transaction levy on all internet deals .

Complaint over new Greek gambling law
Article | October 4, 2011 - 12:19pm

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has lodged a complaint with the European Commission regarding the legality of new gambling legislation in Greece.

If allowed to stand, the legislation will effectively provide OPAP, the largest gambling association in Greece, a favourable position in terms of taxation.

The Greek government currently owns 34% of OPAP, which is currently the only gambling organisation allowed to offer sports betting and lottery products to Greek consumers.

The new law requires all online gambling organisations to pay a 30% gross profit tax on gambling products, something that OPAP would be exempt from, as it is an offline organisation. This puts Greek taxation on online gambling much higher than many other countries; only Spain's 25% taxation laws come close.

The law also requires online associations to impose a 10% withholding tax on all of their customers winnings, but OPAP's consumers are only taxed if their winnings are over €100.

    The RGA's case revolves around the Greek government's inability to objectively justify the new tax, along with the fact that most European online gambling sites impose a lower tax than their offline counterparts. “Remote operators wish to obtain licences in Greece and to continue to offer Greek consumers competitive and well-regulated products,” Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, said. “However the current unjustified fiscal favouritism being afforded to OPAP makes this extremely difficult and we urge the European Commission to investigate the new legislation for being in breach of State aid rules.”

Hawskwood also stressed that the RGA was not trying to suggest equal taxation for both gambling mediums, just that the new tax requirements be justified by the proper authorities.

“We are fully aware of the fiscal pressures on the Greek authorities at present, but they do not justify the imposition of anti-competitive tax provisions which benefit the existing monopoly gambling provider over private online operators soon to be licensed in Greece”, Hawswood went on to say. “Not only does such action not conform with EU State aid rules, but if implemented, it will have a damaging impact on the private sector and associated growth and employment opportunities, as well as curbing competition and consumer choice.”