Belgium’s debate over gambling taxation is centring on a proposed rollback of a 2023 tax change that stopped operators deducting regional gambling taxes from their federal taxable income. In answers to questions from SiGMA News, BAGO, the Belgian Association of Gaming Operators, said the issue went beyond a technical tax matter and raised broader questions of competition, fairness and channelisation. The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of a recent Constitutional Court ruling on unequal treatment and fresh signs of market slowdown.
Belgium’s licensed gambling sector is pushing a simple argument: if the legal market is taxed too heavily while comparable products are treated more lightly, the state risks driving players towards the very operators it cannot control. That argument is now at the centre of a political debate in Brussels after a proposal by MP Jean-Marie Dedecker to restore the tax deductibility of regional gambling levies, reversing a federal change adopted in late 2023. The proposal is being defended as a way to ease pressure on land-based casinos, protect jobs and preserve concession income for municipalities. But the industry says the issue runs far beyond brick-and-mortar venues.
For BAGO, the restoration of deductibility is “an indispensable correction” needed to preserve the economic viability of the legal sector, maintain channelisation and strengthen player protection. The trade association argued that when licensed operators face an effective tax burden that can reach 65 per cent to 70 per cent, “it is the controlled offer, the one that protects players, that is weakened.”
Pressure on the legal market
Belgium’s gambling regulator has reported that gross gaming revenue fell 4.86 per cent in 2024 to just over €1.61bn, with online revenue at €919.1mn and land-based revenue at €690.4mn. The decline was especially sharp in parts of the land-based market, while online activity also lost momentum after years of expansion.
In its annual financial report, the regulator linked the slowdown to regulatory changes, including the online channel split, the higher minimum age, tighter advertising rules, the ban on bonuses and the return of EPIS checks (player identity and eligibility verification checks) in betting shops. It also warned that it could not exclude the possibility that some consumers had been tempted into the illegal market, “where no protection is guaranteed”.
BAGO says those figures reinforce its case against piling fiscal and regulatory pressure onto licensed operators while illegal supply remains widely available. “The recent market data, showing a fall of nearly 5 per cent in gross gaming revenue in 2024, confirms, in our view, the need for caution in the face of the accumulation of fiscal and regulatory pressures on the legal sector,” it told SiGMA News.
The group argues that the debate should not be framed as an industry plea for relief, but as a channelisation question. “A financially healthy legal sector constitutes one of the most effective barriers against illegal supply,” BAGO said. “The restoration of deductibility must therefore be seen not only as a lifeline for the land-based sector, but as a strategic investment in a safe and controlled gambling policy across the entire Belgian market.”
The tax debate is unfolding alongside a separate but related dispute over how Belgium treats comparable products offered by the National Lottery and private operators.
A plea for fairness
Belgium’s Constitutional Court opened a wider debate over gambling carve-outs. In a recent ruling, the court upheld most of the country’s tougher gambling restrictions, but found that exemptions for National Lottery products could not be justified where those products offer a similar gaming experience to private-sector offerings. The legislature has until the end of 2026 to fix the disparity.
For private operators, that ruling reinforced the claim that Belgium has created an uneven market.
BAGO put the point bluntly. “The combination of divergent regimes, fiscal asymmetry and different obligations constitutes a structural problem,” it said. “The fact that comparable products are subject to different rules creates discrimination and disrupts competition.”
Beyond Belgium
Across the continent, governments are tightening rules under the banner of consumer protection while continuing to treat parts of the market differently. In Belgium, the fault line runs between private operators and the National Lottery. In Britain and Sweden, racing interests have argued that their products deserve lighter taxation than online casino-style gambling. In France, the fight has centred on whether online casino legalisation would destabilise the existing market while the former state lottery expands its reach.
The common thread is no longer hard to see. State-backed operators, racing bodies and other favoured segments argue that their products are different and should be regulated differently. Their critics say those distinctions are becoming harder to defend as products converge and consumer experience overlaps.
For BAGO, “player protection must be based on the objective risk of the product, and not on the status of the operator.” At present, the trade association argues that “combined with the disproportionate fiscal pressure weighing on private operators, the current system creates a market that is structurally unbalanced, legally fragile and politically ineffective.”
Subscribe HERE to SiGMA’s Top 10 News countdown and SiGMA’s weekly newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest iGaming News from the biggest iGaming community in the world and benefit from subscriber-only offers.
