Groupe Française des Jeux (FDJ) has stated that it does not believe that the French government’s upcoming Social Security budget will include a gambling tax increase, according to reports.
Reuters has reported that they were told by FDJ that the Social Security finance bill (PLFSS) will not feature any tax measures related to gambling.
FDJ comments came as its shares took a hit on Thursday last week, falling by 9.7% off the back of reports that the French government would be implementing a tax increase on online gaming and betting from 2025, in order to increase the Social Security budget.
The operator’s share price has since rebounded slightly at the start of this week, but as of 7 October, it has still fallen by around 5.6% over the past five days.
The French gaming group told the news outlet in a statement: “To our knowledge, the PLFSS (Social Security finance bill), which will shortly be presented to the Council of Ministers, will not contain any tax measures concerning gambling.”
Back in April, Autorité Nationale des Jeux, France’s gambling authority, reported that gross gaming revenue from the country’s operators increased by over 3% year-over-year, with casino activity growing by more than 8%.
Earlier this year, the ANJ also published its 2024-2026 strategic plan, broken down into three pillars to improve regulation and preserve the sector’s transparency and integrity.
These three pillars are: drastically reducing the share and number of excessive gamblers within the gambling market; fighting against illegal gambling; and strengthening the economic dimension of regulation to better understand market balances and provide solutions.
As for FDJ, the group completed its acquisition of Kindred Group last week, a transaction of nearly €2.5bn that the operator says creates a “European champion” in the gaming industry.
