Ukrainian parliament fails to vote on amended tax code
Verkhovna Rada held no vote on Bill 2713 that would have unified the GGR tax rate operators have to pay
The Ukrainian parliament has failed to pass a key tax reform bill which would amend Ukraine’s Tax Code and the Gambling Law to create a unified tax rate on gross gaming revenue (GGR).
It would also slash the tax on players’ winnings and address collusion, yet members of the Verkhovna Rada didn’t get to vote on the bill, devoting all their time to other legislative initiatives including the re-launch of a state-owned parliamentary TV channel Rada.
During a roundtable discussion on gambling in the former Soviet state, Boris Baum, first deputy head of the advisory-expert council of the Ukrainian Commission for Regulation of Gambling and Lottery, expressed his disappointment with the lack of progress.
He also pointed out that the regulator did everything that it possibly could to draw the appropriate attention of the parliamentarians to the bill.
Ilya Machavariani, senior partner and CEO at boutique consultancy firm 4H Agency, said: “At this point it gets extremely hard to predict what happens next to the legal Ukrainian gambling market.
“Some of the key changes enabling further growth of the legal industry in the country are yet to be implemented in the form of amendments to the Tax Code and the Gambling Law.”
He added: “Clearly those were not at the top of the Ukrainian parliament’s agenda this week. Let’s hope for more comforting news to arrive later in January,” Machavariani added.
In August, Ukraine was rocked by a bribery scandal as police arrested a high-ranking member of the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL).