Regulation of the gambling sector is being tightened. Taxes for owners of online casinos in Georgia will be increased, advertising will be banned and the age limit for users will be raised to 25 years.
The new model of taxation is not clear yet, but as the Minister of Finance has noted, they will be presented by the government in a week.
The gambling sector is one of the most regulated sectors. The sector pays taxes both in the central budget and in the local self-governments, which is a fee for gambling activities.
Taxes paid by the sector hit a record high in 2019 and amounted to 420.4 million, which was reduced to 302.1 million in 2020 due to the pandemic. The reason for the decline was the decrease observed in the direction of physical casinos. In 1H2021, the sector paid taxes of 194.3 million GEL. Against the background of the activation of physical casinos, the total taxes paid by the sector by the end of the year are expected to return to GEL 400 million.
Taxes paid by the sector in 2020 are distributed as follows:
• Profit tax - GEL 131,107,914;
• Income tax - GEL 61,251,180;
• Fee for a permit for a casino, slot machine, bookmaker, lotto, bingo and lottery - GEL 36,095,000;
• Gambling business fee - GEL 55,858,475;
• VAT - GEL 20,616,083;
• Property tax (including land) - GEL 1,213,494;
• Other taxes - GEL -3,996,181;
• Total - GEL 302,145,965.
