Populist politics in Slovakia are turning their attention to gambling, with emerging proposals calling for higher tax rates.

Opposition party Slovakia Movement has alleged that the current taxation regime planned by the government will deprive the country of €52m in annual tax.

At a presser earlier this week, MPs Michal Šipoš and Július Jakab criticised the government for lowering an initial proposal of a €9,300 flat-rate levy for each individual device or table in land-based casinos, dropping it by between 40% and 60% instead.

Šipoš argued that large gambling operators deserve to be taxed more heavily, and that €52m reduction will instead essentially serve them as a “tax bonus”. For him, higher taxation will level the playing field by forcing operators’ hands to stop ‘extorting people in Slovakia’.

Such a move could prove counterintuitive, however, as raising taxes could also force operators to increase their minimum player deposits, resulting in riskier play.

Šipoš also suggested that Slovakia should follow the taxation models currently in place in Austria and Poland – a move which he said will bring the budget €300m a year.

Poland has one of the most aggressive taxation models in Europe, currently at 50% of GGR for land-based casinos and slot machines outside of physical venues. Austria also has a GGR-based tax rate for brick-and-mortar, currently at 30%.

Slovakia on the other hand has adopted a hybrid model, where casinos and gaming halls are taxed by the flat-rate levy per device, plus a GGR tax of 27%.

That flat-rate is the main source of controversy for Slovakia Movement, with government-approved rates now at €4,700 for one device directly operated by players, €4,400 for each slot machine in a gaming hall, and €6,000 for each video terminal located in a physical venue.

Július Jakab, a fellow MP of Šipoš, added that the government’s refusal to bring these rates up to €9,300 is poor decision making in his eyes, especially when Slovakians have increased their average gambling spend fourfold, according to estimates that he cited.

“People lost one and a half billion in gambling last year. And that’s what makes up profits – profits of extremely wealthy companies that make money on human misery and here we have a government that cannot tax them,” he added.