Bulgaria mulls GGR tax switch
Country's authorities considering a move away from a tax on turnover with change possible in the next two weeks
The Bulgarian government could be set to amend its online gambling tax regime within the next two weeks in an effort to attract foreign operators into the country.
The chairman of the State Commission on Gambling, Mr Ognemir Mitev, and the chairperson of the Budget and Finance Committee Yordan Tzonev, have both recently revealed discussions regarding a move to a tax regime based on gross gambling revenue (GGR) are underway. The country currently operates a 15% tax on total turnover.
“The present taxation regime on internet gambling needs to be liberalised in a way that will attract foreign registered operators to register themselves in Bulgaria and pay their taxes here,” Tzonev said.
At present, Bulgaira has just the one licensed operator after the State Gambling Commission awarded the country’s first online sports betting licence to Malta-based Eurofootball last month, subject to the operator paying a licence fee of around 20,000. However, it is understood that a further two licence applications have been made.
Sue Rossiter, director of projects and policy at the Remote Gambling Association told eGaming Review that a switch to GGR could see an influx of egaming licence applications.
“There have been strong indications that the Bulgarian authorities will revise their position on online gambling taxes,” Rossiter said. “If the tax issue and the cost of licences are sorted out we would expect more operators to apply for licences.”
The news of a possible tax regime change comes despite the Commission adding over 160 domains to a blacklist of unlicensed operators with Mr Green being the most recent high-profile addition. The blacklist was created after the Bulgarian parliament handed the Commission power to order internet service providers to block unlicensed sites.