Bulgaria’s Deputy Financial Minister has shot down opposition calls to restrict gambling advertising and introduce further tax hikes.
‘Democratic Bulgaria’ and ‘We Continue the Change’ were former coalition partners prior to this April’s elections, but subsequently split due to mismatch in political vision, although both parties have remained in favour of gambling reforms.
The latter has been campaigning for an almost complete ban of gambling marketing in densely populated areas, on top of the current restrictions for high foot traffic areas and educational facilities.
DB on the other hand has more than once urged the government to increase the GGR tax base from 20% to 30% and introduce higher fees for obtaining a licence.
During a special commission to discuss the second reading of Bulgaria’s 2026 budget, Lyudmila Petkova, Deputy Financial Minister, noted that such changes are unlikely to be adopted individually.
The Ministry believes that a more holistic look at the entirety of the gambling framework is needed to avoid an unintentional proliferation of the black market.
She said: “The proposal to increase the tax sounds very good at first glance, but the real effect of the measure will be the transfer of players from the legal to the illegal market.
“The share of the gray sector in gambling is currently about 40%. The 20% tax is a European balanced standard. Most countries apply a tax of 20% or 25%. Any increase in gambling taxation leads to an increase in the gray sector.”
Bulgaria gambling act review pending
Petkova further confirmed that the Ministry of Finance will review the gambling act in full.
The Minister stated that regulatory changes over the years have been hastily added within other laws which makes any necessary corrections down the line more challenging that they need to be.
“We are starting work on a comprehensive review of the Gambling Act. The reason is that amendments are regularly made to it between the first and second readings of other laws, and then years are needed to correct the consequences of the inaccuracies.”
One such gambling-related change was put in the 2026 Budget itself, envisioning the introduction of licences for gambling affiliates to try and patch up the country’s deficit following a prolonged period of inflation that preceded Bulgaria’s accession to the Eurozone.
It remains to be seen whether the draft rule will be crossed out prior to the budget being put in front of the National Assembly for a final vote.
Any future work to reform the gambling act, however, will likely need the input from the gambling regulator, the National Revenue Agency.
The authority itself, which is under the control of the Ministry of Finance, was left without a Director of Gambling Policies following the departure of Alexander Popov.
