Game amusement tax

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The gambling tax is a municipal tax that is levied in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg .

history

On September 29, 2005, Hamburg passed a new law on gaming entertainment with effect from October 1, 2005. This entertainment tax is a municipal expense tax / municipal tax . The player's expenditure for his gaming pleasure is taxed - for gaming devices with the possibility of winning in the amount of 10% of his stake, for gaming devices without the possibility of winning a distinction is made according to the location, usually EUR 50 or 80 per gaming device and month. The tax is to be paid by the play equipment operator. The reasons for the introduction of the gaming amusement tax or the replacement of the previous gaming equipment tax law were:

  • The Hamburg Finance Court ruled some time ago that it considers taxation based on the previous Gaming Equipment Tax Act to be unconstitutional. The problem is then the flat rate taxation per gaming device with the possibility of winning as a representation of the effort of a player - regardless of how high the player's stakes on the individual devices actually are. The Federal Administrative Court , which has dealt with the entertainment tax statutes of other cities on the same issue , has already ruled . Conclusion: The legal validity of the Gaming Equipment Tax Act and the resulting budgetary income were no longer secured. The tax assessment base - the "number of devices" - had to be converted to the "effort of the player", ie to inserting money into the gaming machine. Because only the effort of the player really shows his effort for his gaming pleasure.
  • Furthermore, the law compensates for an impending sales tax loss. It can be assumed that sales from gaming machines with the possibility of profit are not subject to sales tax according to the latest case law of the European Court of Justice and the Federal Fiscal Court.
  • The Gaming Equipment Tax Act, which was in effect until September 30, 2005, exclusively regulates the taxation of the player's expenditure on gaming and entertainment equipment with the opportunity to win. In view of falling tax revenues , the Hamburg Senate had planned an expansion of taxation to include games without the opportunity to win, which was implemented with the new Game Amusement Tax Act. There will be an increase in tax revenue in the future due to the additional taxation of expenses for gaming pleasure on selected games and entertainment devices without the possibility of winning, such as pinball machines or video games devices. With this expanded regulation, Hamburg is aligning itself with comparable entertainment tax statutes of other cities, which for a long time and regularly also tax the player's expenditure on devices without the possibility of profit. With regard to the devices, a comparatively narrow selection was made for future taxation. The use of so-called sports equipment such as billiards, darts or table football is still not subject to taxation.
  • The new gaming amusement tax also took into account the changed market conditions in the field of commercial gaming, in particular the development of the general economic situation, the technical new and further development of playground equipment and the changed player behavior. The tax is levied on the operator of the playground equipment and is to be paid from his income. However, the comparatively narrow selection of taxable pleasures and the moderate tax rates ensure that the tax does not have a "strangling" effect for the operator within the framework of his company.
  • The Hamburg Gaming Amusement Tax Act is also intended to make a contribution to improving protection against pathological gaming ( gambling addiction ). A less addictive supply structure in the field of commercial games is aimed for by a corresponding gradation of the tax burden up to the waiver of the taxation of little or not at all addictive or addictive games or locations. At the same time, from the expected annual income of around EUR 15 million for the Hamburg budget, EUR 50,000 a year will be made available to the Authority for Science and Health to combat gambling addiction.

Current status

According to the nationwide gambling addiction working group , the city of Hamburg received 30 million DM from this tax in 1998. With a ruling dated February 4, 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that taxation based on the number and location of the machines is contrary to constitutional principles. The Hamburg citizenship was then presented with a change in the law, which provides for a tax rate of 5 percent of gross sales.

The Hamburg amusement tax as a gambling tax was therefore once again put to the legal test. After the Finanzgericht the action of the August 2014 operator had against the tax rejected and not allowed the appeal, which was Bundesfinanzhof with directed against non-admission complaint the plaintiff instead and let the revision to. In February 2018, it decided that the amended Hamburg Game Amusement Tax Act is compatible with the Basic Law and EU law and that the tax may be levied under the changed conditions.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ the daily newspaper taz of November 13, 1998
  2. ^ FG Hamburg, judgment of August 27, 2014, Az .: 2 K 257/13
  3. ↑ BFH, decision of March 25, 2015, Az .: II B 116/14
  4. ↑ BFH, judgment of February 21, 2018, Az .: II R 21/15 = BFHE 261, 62