Gioco online e tassazione: prime osservazioni a margine del D. Lgs. 25 marzo 2024, n. 41

The article is about taxation of gaming and betting, with particular reference to online gambling, in light of recent regulatory developments. Art. 15 of the Delegated Law no. 111 of 2023, on tax reform in general, notably contained a specific provision on public gambling, followed by Legislative Decree no. 41 of 2024. The latter represents the first step towards a more systematic reorganisation of the sector. Actually, the Decree did not address directly the issue of taxation of online gambling, postponing to a later time the reform of tax legislation. Nevertheless, it contains some provisions relevant also for the tax field, introducing more effective tools for controlling and profiling financial flows, including the use of artificial intelligence, as well as the analytical regulation of the licensing system, in all its phases, to allow proper monitoring of the revenue stream. After having examined the reasons for a regulatory reform for taxes on gambling, the article focuses on the exegesis of the new legal provisions more directly related to tax profiles, highlighting the central role played by the license holders. At the same time, it identifies some of the main issues that tax legislator will have to deal with in the near future, in the complex balance between the need for revenue (from the levy of taxes on gambling) to be used to finance public expenditure and protection of the most vulnerable players and fight against various forms of illegal gambling.