Online gambling companies keen on German state’s new tax rules

New online gambling rules passed in the German state of Schleswig- Holstein may lure companies out of Malta and into Germany, according to Jaxx betting company spokesperson Stefan Zenker.

Schleswig-Holstein broke ranks last week after Germany’s other 15 states called for more restrictive rules for online gambling. Instead the state is seeking to attract internet gambling companies Betfair Group Plc (BET) and Bwin.party digital entertainment Plc as a base for their German operations, a tactic one German company is already pursing.

“We want to make the same business as we do now, just we do it in Germany, instead of in Malta,” Stefan Zenker, a spokesman for Jaxx SE, told Bloomberg.com.

Schleswig-Holstein’s rules allow for an unlimited number of web-gambling licenses, plus a less onerous tax regime with just a 20% tax on gross profit.

On the day of the vote, Robert Habeck and Detlef Matthiessen, members of the opposition Green Party, stood in front of a Vegas neon-style sign that said: “Welcome to the betting-paradise, Schleswig-Holstein.”

Schleswig-Holstein’s legislation is ambiguous enough to allow Jaxx, Betfair or Bwin.party to begin pitching customers all over Germany using that state’s license. A fully unrestricted German licensing regime could vault Germany to first place in European online gambling gross win, from fourth, at €773 million last year.