French leaders make unified case against excessive gambling taxes

A trio of leaders representing French gambling’s biggest enterprises challenges the government to rethink its tax plan and to begin the legislation of iCasino for the benefit of France’s regulated market, economy  and consumers. 

French gambling industry leaders took part in a Senate Finance Committee hearing last week that enabled them to put their cases forward and explain how high levels of taxation impacted the industry and why not having a legal online casino industry was a “lose-lose” scenario for France. However, they all agreed that the prospect of a unified and, potentially, much simpler unique tax for gambling operators was something that should be looked into and debated in more depth.

Grégory Rabuel, CEO of Barrière Groupe and President of Casinos de France, Nicolas Béraud, CEO of Betclic and President of the online gaming trade group AFJEL, and Stéphane Pallez, CEO of FDJ United, answered in the positive when asked by the Committee’s General Rapporteur Jean-François Husson if they were open to replacing the taxes on all the different gaming products such as land-based casino, lottery or sports betting with a single tax on GGR.

No Winners in Tax Plan

With regard to the tax levels impacting the industry, Stéphane Pallez described the new taxes that have come into force this month to finance social security services as “counter-productive”.

“The tax consists in fact of deducting revenue directly from the company’s turnover” and does not flow through to benefit players or France’s tax coffers, she said. The rise will impact operators’ financial results, “which means that in 2025, we effectively have a year with no growth, the first time that has happened since 2019”, she added.

The measure has also impacted investor confidence and was likely to force staff reductions, but even more troubling was the fact that “the amount recovered by the State is much less” than what it could have gained with more intelligent tax measures, she noted.

The industry had been destabilised by the measures and Pallez pointed out that the gains and taxes FDJ distributed from its €250m Euromillions jackpots alone produced the same revenues as the new social security tax.

Béraud added that the 2025 tax rises had “greatly weakened the online sector, which is a major contributor to the French economy”. He also criticised the fact that there had been no consultation with stakeholders, and warned that unless a rethink of the measure happened in 2026 a number of smaller operators could close down.

iCasino… Just Legalise It

Online casino regulation was also discussed and the arguments around unrealistic tax revenues, cannibalisation of land-based casino activities or whether it would channel players to legal sites were once again heard.

Grégory Rabuel said CdF was not favourable to the vertical being legalised, but if lawmakers decided to regulate it, it would participate in the process to defend the interests of its members with its JADE project.

Béraud made the point that the vertical was already open and the current situation was untenable. “There are no reasons why we can’t do it,” he said. “All European countries have done it, with a few exceptions, so we have to do it because the status quo is a lose-lose situation for everyone. It’s a loss for the state, which loses between €1bn and €2bn in tax revenues. It’s a loss for the regulator, which is not fulfilling its role of protecting players. It’s also an opportunity for physical casino operators to develop a new business that is currently being developed by offshore companies.

He also made the point that online operators want regulation of the vertical to benefit land-based casinos as it would enable them “to develop a new business that is currently being developed by offshore companies. And I know that some casino operators are in the process of recruiting skills in this area,” he added.

“And I know that some casino operators are in the process of recruiting skills in this area. So that means they believe in it. It’s common sense and (keeping to) the status quo and waiting every year means billions that go abroad (is not viable), with millions of players at risk and the weakening of an industry that is now at the limit because of being overtaxed.”

In reference to the warnings of physical casinos’ revenues being cannibalised,  CdF has warned that online regulation could lead to 25% loss of revenues and 15,000 job losses, Béraud said even though French casinos were growing less than other verticals, “they have been growing for four years. If there was going to be an impact, it would have already happened”.

All three speakers agreed on the need for reduced tax levels and Pallez said French gambling was a “public asset”. Discussions on the potential “opening up of the online regime must preserve this spirit, but it must take place within a serious framework and with the necessary time if we want to move in that direction.”