GAMBLING LAW
Summary
1 January 2012, the Danish Act on Gambling (in Danish: “Spilleloven”) came into force ending the long
-standing gambling monopoly and liberalizing the Danish gambling market. Until 1 January 2012, the
Danish gambling market had been regulated in such a way that commercial actors were excluded, only
allowing certain public benefit organizations and state-controlled companies to offer gam-bling activities. The Act is part of a legislative package also containing an Act on Duty on Gambling (in Danish:
“Spilleafgiftsloven”), an Executive Order on Distribution of Profits from Lot­teries and Betting (in Dan­
ish: “Bekendtgørelse for tilbagebetalingsprocenter for visse spil”), and an Act on Danske Spil A/S (in
Danish: “Lov om Danske Spil A/S”). Danske Spil A/S is a state-owned company which has a licence to
provide lottery and other games in Denmark.
Gambling Licences
A licence is required in order to provide any type of gambling activities and services in Denmark, including marketing and sponsorship activities. Under the Act, there are nine different types of licences
depending on which kind of gambling the licensee wishes to provide. Based on an application, licences
are granted by the Gambling Authority (in Danish: “Spillemyndigheden”) unless otherwise stated. An
ex-ception is made for gambling where no stake is paid in order to participate, in which case a licence
is not required. Additionally, a licence is not required if the gambling in question is exempt from the
licence require-ment pursuant to the Act.
The availability of a licence is dependent on the type of gambling in ques-tion, e.g. lottery, wager or
casino. Some types of gambling licences are exclusive and only granted to a sole provider, including
lottery or horse and dog wager licences which will be granted exclusively to Danske Spil A/S, while
other types may be granted to an indefinite number of providers, including wager, land-based casino
and online casino. The duration of the various licences varies, for example up to five years for wager
and online casino, while some licences may be granted for an unlimited duration, e.g. a horse and dog
wager.
Taxation
Gambling revenues are subject to the Act on Duty on Gambling. Three different kinds of taxation may
apply depending on the type of gambling in question, i.e. taxation of the gross gambling income, taxation of winnings and taxation of the payment sums. Persons and companies subject to taxation pursuant to the Act on Duty on Gambling must register their taxable activities with the Danish Tax and Customs Administration (in Danish: “SKAT”).
Report about Provision of Gambling
The licence holders must submit a report about the provision of gambling to the Danish Gambling Authority no later than 14 months after the provision of betting and/or online casino has commenced.
A part of the report must be completed by an approved enterprise. Moalem Weitemeyer Bendtsen has
been approved by the Danish Gambling Authority to complete this part of the report.
Blocking of illegal Gambling Websites
The Act empowers the Danish Gambling Authority to seek an injunction against unauthorized gambling
providers providing services on the Danish market, initially by providing a recommendation, but if necessary by blockings. Furthermore, if an injunction has already been made, non-compliance may lead to
fines or imprisonment.
The Danish Gambling Authority monitors the gambling market to identify gambling operators who offer
gambling on the Danish gambling market without the proper Danish licence.
The above does not constitute legal counselling and Moalem Weitemeyer Bendtsen does not warrant
the accuracy of the information. With the above text, Moalem Weitemeyer Bendtsen has not assumed
responsibility of any kind as a consequence of a reader’s use of the above as a basis of decisions of
considerations.