Italy

Online gambling is regulated nationally by ADM (Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli) under a concession model dating to the 2006-2011 opening of the market, and is being overhauled by the 2024 reorganisation of remote gaming (Decreto Legislativo 41/2024). ADM awards concessions covering sports and horse-race betting, casino games, poker, bingo and betting exchange to operators serving Italian residents on .it sites. The reform replaces legacy concessions with new nine-year, non-renewable online concessions carrying a one-off €7 million entry fee plus ongoing fees, to be assigned through a public tender. Online gaming is taxed on gross gaming revenue, and gambling advertising and sponsorship have been banned since the 2018 Dignity Decree (Decreto Dignità).

Concession, not licence

The Italian system grants a concession rather than an open licence. Under this framework the State retains ownership of the gaming activity and contracts its exercise to a limited number of operators, each bound to ADM by a concession agreement setting technical, financial and conduct obligations. This differs from jurisdictions that issue unlimited licences on qualification alone: the number of concessions is capped, entry runs through public tender, and the relationship is contractual. Concessionaires serve Italian residents through .it sites; offering to residents without a valid concession is treated as unauthorised.

The 2024 reorganisation

D.Lgs 41/2024 restructured remote gaming, replacing legacy concessions with new nine-year, non-renewable online concessions awarded by public tender. Each carries a one-off entry fee of EUR 7 million plus ongoing fees; ADM's tender set the recurring charge at 3% of net collection margin. The tender was published in December 2024 and the new regime opened on 19 December 2024, with legacy concessions extended pending assignment. A single corporate group may hold up to five concessions, so the reform narrows and consolidates the market rather than widening the number of operators.

Competing without advertising

The Dignity Decree (D.L. 87/2018, fully in force from 2019) prohibits any form of advertising, direct or indirect, for games or betting with cash prizes across all media, extending from 1 January 2019 to sponsorships of events, teams and broadcasts. Breach carries a fine of 5% of the sponsorship value, and in any case at least EUR 50,000. With paid promotion and sponsorship closed off, operators are distinguished chiefly by odds, product range, retail presence and brand recognition built before the ban. Regulators also treat certain affiliate and search visibility as indirect advertising.

Tax and mandatory RG spend

Under the 2025 Budget Law, online sports and virtual betting is taxed at about 24.5% of GGR and online casino games, poker and bingo at about 25.5%, each a half-point rise on the previous 24% and 25%. These levies sit on top of the one-off entry fee and ongoing concession fees, so the effective burden combines margin-based tax with turnover-independent charges. Separately, operators must invest 0.2% of GGR in responsible-gambling measures, embedding harm-reduction funding in the fiscal structure rather than leaving it to operator discretion.

Self-exclusion and enforcement

Player protection centres on the Registro Unico degli Auto-esclusi (RUA), a single national self-exclusion register that operators must check, so an exclusion applies across all .it concessionaires rather than one site at a time. Account opening requires a minimum age of 18 and identity verification through the codice fiscale (tax code) or SPID digital identity, tying each account to a verified person. ADM administers the regime; offering to Italian residents without a concession, or breaching the advertising ban, exposes operators to financial sanctions and site-blocking.

Tax

Key facts

Italy across the portal

Compare Italy head-to-head

RTP rules

Licence types

Fees

Change-watch

Sources (5)