The European Commission has decided to refer Portugal to the European Court Of Justice over income tax provisions that see the vast majority of foreign lottery winnings taxed while domestic prizes remain exempt.
Games or gambling was subject to taxation with the only exemption applying to those spoils from Euromilhoes E Liga Dos Milhoes, which are games organised by the Santa Casa Da Misericordia De Lisboa.
Portugal amended its tax code in December following a reasoned opinion sent by the Commission in September to also exempt winnings from the European EuroMillions network, which includes EuroMillions lotteries from Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, the UK and Switzerland.
Also Portugal did not extend the tax exemption to all foreign state lotteries with these continuing to be taxed.
The Commission stated that taxing the winnings from foreign lotteries while exempting national competitions could not be justified as a way of avoiding problem gambling.