Bulgaria’s tax on gambling could be raised to 15 per cent as early as next year, according to a Cabinet plan made public on November 4.

Amendments to the Corporate Revenue Act adopted by Parliament at first reading on November 4 increased the tax rate to 12 per cent from 10 per cent. But Parliament’s budget committee chairperson Menda Stoyanova has said that there could be an even more dramatic increase, hinting at the 15 per cent benchmark.

Her proposal came as a poll commissioned by the Ministry of Finance showed that raising the corporate tax on gambling enjoyed the broadest public support and was approved by 84 per cent of the respondents.

Fixed-odds sports betting outfit EuroFootball is now paying the brunt, with sports and national lottery bets now taxed at 10 per cent of turnover and not on the profit. The company said in a statement that the gambling tax was about five or six times higher than the tax imposed on other commercial entities operating on the Bulgarian market because it was based on the entire turnover, without deducing payment and activity expenses.