Italy is the most attractive jurisdiction to open an online casino. Currently, the total profit from online gambling in the country is over 60 billion euros. According to this indicator, Italy is in first place in the EU.

A licensed operator will receive permission to conduct gambling in Italy, which has many advantages:

● Legal status and the ability to provide their services to the country’s population.

● Italy has fairly strict legislation, so if you acquire a license for this particular country, your prestige will increase several times. Moreover, you can open an institution in another country using a local license, but only if the supervisor can control your casino in another country.

● A casino licensed in Italy becomes international, and receives its own tax number, which is the same for the EU countries.

● There are tax breaks for institutions that have received local jurisdiction (do not forget that Italy has very high taxes).

● You can become an official partner of one of the European banks.

● A short time for consideration of a license application for an online casino.

Licensing in Italy

Until 2011, there was almost no online gambling in the country, only a few small establishments that were outside the law. True, the country had a well-developed betting industry and various lotteries.

In the summer of 2011, the country’s authorities finally allowed registering online casinos in their jurisdiction. If the operator wants to work in Italy, he will need to undergo mandatory registration. The entire gaming business is administered by AAMS – Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies. The same structure is engaged in licensing.

By the way, the Italian authorities issue only 200 licenses per year, so if you want to get into the number of casinos that have received a license, you need to consider several features:

● Pay 350,000 euros and VAT (20%). If you do not pay this amount and have a working online casino, its owner faces a serious fine, or even a prison term. Rates that are not reflected in the financial statements are penalized. The maximum fine is 5,000 euros.

● You must have a company cash turnover of at least 1.5 million euros over the past 2 years.

● The license is issued for 9 years and can be issued to any company from the European Union.

● Foreign citizens holding a passport of the Eurasian Economic Space are exempted from the need to create an enterprise in the country, but only if they have their own licensed gambling project.

● Your online casino should be located in the Italian part of the Internet, with a “.it” platform, which will allow the supervisor to control your work.

● Licenses are also issued to young projects. To do this, you need to have a bank guarantee for AAMS payments of one and a half million euros. In addition, the novice project falls under the close attention of the oversight body, which will audit not only software and hardware, but also all employees of the organization.

The documents

Before applying for licensing, you must collect the following package of documents:

● the charter of the company, as well as the decision of the founders to choose a leader, the official registration of the name;

● copies of passports of all employees and shareholders;

● an agreement on assigning a domain name and creating a portal for online gambling;

● lease / purchase agreement for office premises, document on payment for these premises;

● partnership agreement;

● competently completed application form for a license for online casinos;

● official confirmation from the bank, about a sufficient amount on the counts;

● reference documents from financial institutions on the company state  that is going to acquire local jurisdiction;

● certified expert assessment on the technical equipment and the server of the company on which the online casino will be located;

● a competent business plan, where the expenditure and revenue side will be specified in detail, and there will be made forecasts for the first years of work;

● A detailed description of your own platform and each game on it: name, software provider, winnings, operating principle, etc.

Taxes and fees

All fees and taxes are tied to cash flow and gross margin. There is a single tax charge of 20% of revenue. All network gambling projects pay it. There is a working tax, but its size depends on the type of rates. For example:

● sportsbooks rates – 3.5%;

● races – about 10%;

● rates in slot machines – 3%;

● bingo – approximately 12%.

All operators who have received a license must monitor their own activities in the following areas:

● Timely license renewal.

● Availability of certificates for electronic gaming platform and software;

● If the operator intends to open another establishment with the same name, it will also need to be licensed.

Contact Information

The Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato – Autonomous administration of state monopolies in Italy. Its main office is located in Rome, 11 – 00153 Mastai Square.

Direct telephone number in Rome +39 06 50241.

Official website: www.agenziadoganemonopoli.gov.it