Romanian Operator Has Had Its License Withdrawn by the Commission Following a Dispute Over Taxes

 Bucharest, Romania (May 5, 2023) — Romanian slot operator Goldprest Impex SRL had its license withdrawn after the country’s regulatory authority said it had not paid its full fee.

The license was withdrawn after an investigation into several facets of Goldprest Impex SRL’s operations, including royalty payments.

The Romanian Gaming Supervisory Council initially found that Goldprest Impex SRL did not pay the correct amount for license fees. The committee said the operator paid only 97,753 lei of the 366,573 lei owed. This was 268,820 lei less than what is provided for in the Romanian gambling law.

According to the National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF), the total amount – 366,573 lei – was paid in two instalments on November 16, 2022 and November 21, 2022. However, ANAF specified that the total amount was reduced to 97,753 lei. on November 24. 2022, after taking into account certain compensation.

On March 20 and 22, 2023, Goldprest Impex SRL submitted a declaration of rectification of the difference in royalties. He paid 268,869 lei – more than the 268,820 lei originally owed due to the exchange rate.

Other Expenses

The Commission said that Goldprest Impex SRL declared the correct amount of taxes for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. However, a number of rectification declarations were submitted in these quarters in relation to the fourth quarter of 2021.

The committee said that in the fourth quarter of 2021, the operator declared authorization fees totalling 46,935 lei lower than those due.

In a rectification statement submitted by the operator on April 6, 2022, it was mentioned that he increased the authorization fee by the stipulated amount of 46,935 lei. But this was then followed by another rectification statement issued on November 10, 2022, which declared a tax that was, again, 46,935 lei less than what was owed.

A further six rectification statements were subsequently filed – three on 19 January 2023 and three on 20 March 2023 – reducing to varying degrees the permit fee for the fourth quarter of 2021.

In total, there were seven corrections, totalling 444,348 lei.

The commission voted to quash the filings, saying they were “without legal basis.”

If these corrections had not been cancelled, the overpayment of 6,516 lei would have been removed and the unpaid debt of 437,832 lei regarding the authorization fee would have remained.

The committee added that a similar situation arose with regard to the non-reimbursement fee of Goldprest Impex SRL, in which two rectification statements were submitted.

Revocation of License

The committee confirmed that Goldprest Impex SRL’s slot machine operating license was cancelled and that the operator must repay the remaining difference in the license fee.

Goldprest Impex SRL can file a complaint against the decision within 30 days of its publication. Termination of the license is effective immediately.

SOURCE: Pro Rally.