12 Jul, 2018
The budget contribution of the gambling business is about half a billion - says the head of the "Gambling Business Association" Zurab Beruashvili.
According to him, the information is spread as if the income of the sector is 6 billion a year, which is not true. Zurab Beruashvili states that in reality the income of the sector is 700-800 million GEL, while the distributed profit is 160 million.
"Businesses pay both general state taxes and local taxes, as well as permits and gambling business fees, not to mention income and other residual taxes. According to 2017 data, this is a tax paid from 330 to 350 million. This is a net number that is licensed. Taxes generated by operators.
I want you to know that there are unlicensed companies in the business, but there are also companies directly related to this business, whose share in taxes is quite high. According to our information, the total tax from this business is up to half a billion GEL.
Companies are less likely to share numbers with each other due to high competition, but based on the data I own, we are talking about 2 important numbers. It is often appealed to these figures that the business revenue was up to 6 billion, however, the total revenue at our disposal ranges from 700 million to 800 million. However, this is not a net result, it should be deducted from the corresponding costs, which are very high. In general, we are talking about 100-159 million GEL distributed profit during the year, "- said Beruashvili.
As for the increased taxes for the gambling business from 2017, according to which the fees have been increased in the case of both casinos and online games. The head of the Gambling Business Association says the business has not had time to adjust to the new regulations in its time.
"A tax increase is never welcomed by a business if it is implemented in such a short period of time when the business fails to prepare for the actual administration measures. "It actually happened," Beruashvili said.
