EU says foreign lotteries in Poland have been unfairly taxed
Friday, October 13, 2006 posted 03:18 AM EDT
BRUSSELS, Belgium Foreign lotteries in Poland have been unfairly taxed, the European Commission said Thursday.
The European Union head office has given Poland official notice asking it to stop taxing the winnings from foreign lotteries higher than that of winnings from Polish lotteries, calling the practice "discriminatory taxation."
"Member states are free to set their own rules on betting and gambling," European Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said. "But the (EU) Treaty requires that these rules are applied in the same way to domestic and foreign lotteries."
Winnings from lotteries in other member states have been taxed from 19 percent to 40 percent, while Polish lottery winnings are taxed either at a flat rate of 10 percent, or not taxed at all.
Discriminatory taxation of foreign lottery winnings goes against EU law that ensures the freedom to provide services throughout each country of the 25-member bloc.
The Commission said it could take Poland before the European Court of Justice if it did not comply within the next two months.
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