Italy’s Main Gambling Levy Falls From 2025 Levels

Italy brought in €3.04 billion from gambling taxes and duties between January and June 2026. Most of that money still came from gaming machines, although receipts from the sector slipped from last year.

The figures appear in the latest half-year accounts published by Italy’s State General Accounting Department. The PREU levy on gaming machines supplied almost four-fifths of the tax take covered by the report.

Machine Tax Revenue Moves Lower

Revenue from the Prelievo Erariale Unico (PREU), the levy charged on amusement machines with cash prizes, reached about €2.44 billion in the first half. The same tax produced roughly €2.6 billion over the comparable period of 2025. On that basis, receipts were about 6% lower this year.

PREU nevertheless supplied roughly four euros out of every five collected within the gambling-tax category covered by the Treasury report. The fall therefore carries more weight than movements in smaller taxes.

It also gives a different picture from the headline number alone. Italy is still collecting billions from gambling, but its biggest individual source is no longer growing.

Lotteries Add Separate Revenue Streams

Other gambling products also generated large payments to the state, although they are recorded under different budget headings.

Instant lottery products brought in approximately €929.5 million in the first six months of the year. Lotto revenue was around €584.6 million.

The state also received money from bingo and from fees paid by concessionaires operating gaming networks. Telematic network concession fees were reported at roughly €211.9 million, while bingo contributed about €83.6 million.

These amounts cannot automatically be combined with the €3.04 billion headline figure. Italian gambling revenue is divided across several accounting categories, and reports published by the Customs and Monopolies Agency use a wider statistical perimeter.

That distinction has already produced noticeably different totals. ADM data for the first quarter put gambling-related Treasury revenue at around €2.6 billion, but the figure covers products and payments that do not match the Treasury’s six-month tax category on a like-for-like basis.

Gambling Remains Part of Italy’s Budget Planning

Gaming income is also included in the government’s broader fiscal plans for 2026. Updated budget estimates envisage roughly €807 million in additional non-tax revenue from betting and gaming activities.

For the Treasury, the more revealing number may be the drop in PREU rather than the €3 billion headline. Italy’s gambling tax base remains heavily tied to machines. If that contribution continues to contract, stronger lottery receipts or concession payments may become increasingly important to maintaining the state’s overall income from the sector.