EU Weighs Taxes on Online Gambling and Crypto to Raise Up to 28 Billion Euros Over Seven Years

The European Union is considering new taxes on online gambling, cryptocurrencies and digital platform companies as it looks to raise funds for its next long-term budget.

Politico reported on May 30 that the European Commission, in a document shared with member-state governments and the European Parliament, said the new levies could generate substantial additional revenue.

The commission estimated that a 3% tax on net revenue in the online gambling industry would raise about 1.9 billion euros a year. Over the EU's next seven-year budget cycle from 2028 to 2034, that would amount to about 13.3 billion euros.

For the crypto sector, the commission is considering a 0.1% tax on transaction value. It estimated the levy could generate about 3 billion euros to 4 billion euros annually. A separate tax on capital gains from crypto assets could raise an additional 1 billion euros to 2.4 billion euros a year.

The commission added that it is difficult to precisely estimate potential tax revenue from the crypto market because data on the sector remains limited.