Gambling firm 888 pays €9m in back-taxes
CASINO firm 888 Holdings yesterday became the latest online gaming firm to pay back-taxes to the Spanish government, part of a cash raid by the country’s government.
Spain is in the process of issuing new e-gaming licences for all online bookmakers and is using the leverage to extract retrospective payments from internet gambling companies that operated between January 2009 and May 2011.
After completing a self-assessment tax return 888 has made a one-off payment of €7.4m (£5.9m) in back-taxes, plus surcharges and interest of up to €1.3m.
All of the taxes and charges were funded from the firm’s cash reserves.
“Following this payment, 888 believes that it has fulfilled all requirements necessary to receive a Spanish e-gaming licence, with awards set to begin at the start of June,” the firm said in a statement.
Last week rival Bwin.party said it has paid £26.56m to the Spanish government in back-taxes, while Sportingbet also announced that it is in discussions with the Spanish Ministry of Finance on the matter.
The tax claims are based on interpretations of laws dating from 1966 and 1977 that had never previously been applied to online gambling operations.
Shares in 888 Holdings closed down 0.7 per cent at 68.25p.