GCA Weekly Brief
Spain tightens payment checks, Italy's budget targets gambling revenue
GCA has gathered the key developments of the past week, 9 Oct – 16 Oct 2026. Spain's new payment-ownership rule is the item with a hard deadline: it takes effect on 28 October. Elsewhere, Italy's 2027 budget counts on about €720 million from gambling, Ireland's EU presidency left the proposed EU-wide levy out of its draft budget, and the Netherlands began a study on privatising its state lottery. Japan's ruling party is preparing to hear Kalshi and Polymarket.
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Spain requires online operators to verify who owns each payment method
Royal Decree 813/2026 requires licensed online gambling operators to confirm that the bank account, card or e-wallet used for deposits and withdrawals belongs to the registered player. The rule takes effect on 28 October 2026; existing players have until 28 April 2027, and until they are verified they can deposit and play but cannot withdraw.
GCA comment
Operators serving Spain have days to build ownership checks into onboarding and six months to clear their existing player base. They should map every payment method in use, warn players before the withdrawal block starts, and agree the account-closure and refund process with payment partners well before April 2027.
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Italy Taxation
Italy's 2027 draft budget counts on about €720 million from gambling
Italy's 2027 Draft Budgetary Plan, approved by the Council of Ministers on 13 October, counts on about €720 million of extra gambling revenue in 2027. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has not said how it will raise it; options under review include an earlier tender for the instant-lottery concession, higher fees for expiring land-based concessions, tighter audit rules for online winnings, and changes to tax rates.
GCA comment
The target is set but the instrument is not, so Italian operators should plan for several outcomes: higher concession fees, stricter accounting and reporting rules, or tax-rate changes. The detail should come when the budget bill reaches Parliament, which is the moment to model the cost for each product line.
Source: GCA Industry News
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Ireland Taxation
Ireland Omits Online Gambling Levy from Proposed EU Long-Term Budget Plan
Ireland, which holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, left a proposed EU-wide levy on online gambling revenue out of its draft 2028–2034 budget framework. Supporters had estimated the levy at €2–4 billion a year, but EU tax measures need the agreement of all member states, and Malta and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) opposed it. EU leaders discussed the budget at their 15–16 October summit, and negotiations continue.
GCA comment
The summit conclusions say nothing about new own resources or a gambling levy, and the budget talks continue. A gambling-specific levy is a European Parliament proposal, not part of the Commission's package of five new own resources, and any new EU revenue source needs the agreement of all member states, so it is parked rather than gone. Operators should keep following the budget talks and treat national tax changes as the more immediate risk.
Source: GCA Industry News
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Dutch government starts a study on privatising Nederlandse Loterij
The Dutch government has begun an exploratory study, with an external consultancy, into options for selling the state-owned lottery operator Nederlandse Loterij. The Ministry of Finance will update Parliament in early 2027 and deliver final findings in the second half of 2027.
GCA comment
Privatisation is only at the study stage and any sale would take years, so nothing changes for operators in the near term. The study will test whether player protection and charity funding survive private ownership; those conditions are what to watch. Investors should follow the early-2027 update to Parliament.
Source: GCA Industry News
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Japan's ruling LDP to hold hearings on prediction markets with Kalshi and Polymarket
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans a study session on prediction markets in late October 2026 with executives from Kalshi and Polymarket. Japan has no dedicated legal category for such contracts, and the hearings will look at whether they fall under the Penal Code's gambling ban or under financial-instruments rules.
GCA comment
This is a first step toward a policy position, not a licensing route, and one session should not be expected to change the legal status. The classification chosen by lawmakers and the Financial Services Agency will decide whether prediction markets become a regulated product or stay prohibited. Operators interested in Japan should follow the outcome and keep Japanese users restricted until the status is clear.
Source: GCA Industry News