Hungary is about to block non-registered foreign gambling sites

[gerilege]

The new legislation is expected to be approved within a few days. A gambling site offering services to Hungarian citizens should be registered in Hungary and pay taxes (20-33% of net income ???coming from Hungarian players???) to Hungary. It is also expected to operate a monitored mirror server in Hungary.
Non-compliance is expected to result in a ISP block to those websites and temporary seizure of casino/poker_room/betting_site funds held on Hungarian bank accounts for 90 days.
Further execution details are not known as of now.

[IanO]

How will they be able to know (for sure) how much Net income the casino is making from those players? Do they just have to take the Casinos word for it?? Will be interesting to watch this all unfold. Off to gogle I go

[Casinomeister]

Another hand in the cookie jar

[jetset]

Romania, too:

http://www.casinomeister.com/news/se...T-GAMBLING.php

[gerilege]

How will they be able to know (for sure) how much Net income the casino is making from those players? Do they just have to take the Casinos word for it?? Will be interesting to watch this all unfold. Off to gogle I go

If I understand it correctly, then via the mirror server. What the tax authority is looking for: money goes in from Hungary, money goes out to Hungary, the difference is the income and basis for tax (sorry, should have written gross income instead of net).

[gerilege]

The link for the actual proposal expected to be approved soon (in Hungarian):
http://www.parlament.hu/irom39/04049/04049-0018.pdf
The text is selectable, if you would like to run a translator on it.
I tried to find the key chapters and run it via google translate. Below is the raw text, which already holds some clues. Later I will provide a more accurate English version.

If the state tax authority to the state finds the website
without the permission of organized gambling
a) accessing the web site as an intermediary involved
electronic communications service provider shall inform, and calls the service a time probe
to make inaccessible to the network of gambling in this participation
bid, something is
b) about the organization's designated cash flow account to
inform the FINANCIAL institution and one-time payment service provider to probe calls
to the cash account to account transfer and payment, collection,
Other payment orders, the performance of the operation - up to 90 days - the lifting of a ban g
do not cooperate. "

Business association organized an EEA State and an appropriate amount of at least HUF 200 million was recorded must
have.
(2) The organizer must provide proof of
experience in organizing games of chance, or, failing this, the state of
by the tax authority established under specific legislation, a higher amountÛ
safeguards must be provided.
(3) If he is organizing the territory of Hungary is not established, contact the organizers
a domestic residence or his representative to be based should be provided, who acts on behalf of the ckuebt to authorities there to the right and the service manager
agent is considered. If the organizer does not have the interior of Hungary
branch, the tax obligation for tax matters Law 9th
§-a representative of financial trust. Representation under this paragraph - a special
statutory conditions are met at night - may be performed by the same person.
f4), the organization shall play tested by an accredited inspection body system and business
system used. The state permit for the duration of the tax authority anytime
order that the operator of the system for further testing, inspection and certification
do.

(5) Remote gambling organization, the data processing and storage
tools (server) of the EEA State should be placed. The organizer of the remote gambling
using the service-related data stored in Hungary can be found
data storage devices should also be provided. The stored data should include
especially in the customer registration, account funding details of the player i
accounts of the evolution of the gameplay-related information and transactions.
(6) The barrier-free access should contact the organizers to ensure the public tax authority
for the server and (5) he shall be stored on the data and its
In order to ensure the right tools to ensure the security and data
software. This should allow access to the data being read, copied and the copied
data processing.
(7) The organizer must be stored and made access to his data security, the
data from the limitation of the right to assess taxation must be provided.
(8Lz state tax authority to approve that (5), specified in t
data storage devices should not be placed in the territory of Hungary, where the
data processing and storage device (server) Placement EEA State m
a state tax authority shall supervise the activities of organized gambling organizers é s
5
this agreement, the supervisory authority has the authority to organize their state tax on this
countries, organized gambling conducted surveillance of the activity Oi.
(9) The organizer is obliged to the organizers of gambling activities per month, the
month following the 20th day of settlement, and report it electronic
. By the state tax authority to submit "

[gerilege]

There are speculations on the motive behind the new act. Some people think that the real reason behind this is not the taxation of the casino income, but the taxation of player winnings. One might think that it is a bad deal for the tax authority to focus on gambler's winnings instead of the casino's income. But not with the approach the local tax authority has here. They think about this as the lottery (60% tax rate on state lottery). You buy a lottery ticket for 10 USD, if you win 10USD, than in fact you won 25 USD (your chance of winning an extra 15 for a 10 stake is 1:2,5), but you only get back 10USD. But you had a $15 part of your winnings you never saw.
What they might plan is considering individual gamblers (poker, betting, casino) analogue to the above. They might plan to say that all cashouts are winnings and tax all cashouts, independently from the deposits made (this is currently the law for online poker tournament winnings for example). Just like on the lottery, you buy a ticket for 10USD and lose, done, you buy one and win 25USD, pay the taxes. Many players will be afraid to play online after the tax authority will have access to the gaming site's financial data related to the player given the current high financial pressure on the government.