Germany may be under lockdown right now, but plenty of Germans are heading offshore these days – for their online gambling needs anyways. According to a study recently published by the Handelsblatt Research Institute, as much as 40 percent of German online gambling action is heading offshore. An onerous tax system that eats away at any potential winnings is the likely culprit behind the mass exodus from regulated play to offshore action.

Professor Dr. Bert Rürup, president of the Handelsblatt Research Institute, which conducted the study, said that Germany’s proposed 5.3 percent turnover tax on online slots play was a the perfect system, for sending players offshore. “The taxes planned by the federal states are extremely high in European and international comparison. A 5.3% tax on stakes could make legal and licensed offers very unattractive,” he said.

In a statement reported on by iGaming Business, the professor went on to point out that players tend to notice things that impact their play, and winnings, such as increased taxes. “Our data show that the majority of players in online casinos react very sensitively to changes in gaming conditions,” he said.

“This means that if the playing conditions on the online casino site they have been playing on change, for example, in the form of poorer chances of winning, lower betting limits or lower gaming speeds, over 40 percent of online casino players would look for an offer in which the playing conditions have not deteriorated.”

When players move their action offshore, they give up many of the protections afforded to them at licensed operators and their chances of getting swindled are greatly increased. How many German players have already experienced this phenomenon is, as yet, unknown.

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