In a recent governmental assembly that took place last week, it was highlighted that Irakli Gharibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, proclaimed that his administrative body had tendered a new proposal to the parliamentary majority. This offer aimed to instigate significant modifications in the taxation scheme implemented on gambling businesses.
Prime Minister Gharibashvili broadcasted that the present taxing rate of 10% levied on gaming corporations should be escalated to 15%. Simultaneously, the Prime Minister proposed an increase in the tax on earnings extracted from gambling businesses from the prevailing rate of 2% to a heightened rate of 5%.
The innovative proposal, which was formally introduced by the Prime Minister, anticipates welcoming an extra 400 million GEL ($147 million) to the national treasury by 2024. Additionally, a supplementary contribution of 300 million GEL ($110 million) from banking institutions is expected, which accumulates to a total increase of 700 million GEL ($257.8 million) in additional revenue for the corresponding year.
Discontentment Expressed by the Prime Minister Over Gambling Turnover
The Prime Minister seized the opportunity during the assembly to relay that the local gambling industry’s turnover had ascended from 48 billion GEL ($17 billion) to 52 billion GEL ($19 billion) in 2022. Gharibashvili articulated his “astonishment” and “disappointment” on learning about the expanding gambling sector, labelling the upward trajectory as an aspect of “great concern”.
Gharibashivili condemned the alarming figures as being “catastrophic” and vented his displeasure over the fact that the proportion of the population actively involved in gambling hadn’t reduced as anticipated.
This comes against the backdrop of the significant transformations introduced by the government in 2022 related to the ban on gambling advertisements and the restriction on Georgians younger than 25 years from participating in gambling.
1.5M Georgians Are Obstructed from Gambling
In light of the aforementioned restriction, 1.5 million Georgian citizens were categorically precluded from participating in gambling activities. The Prime Minister voiced his concern stating, “we observe that a large number of citizens continue to be involved” even today, two years post Gharibashvili’s declaration of the government’s intentions to implement the strictest online casino regulations in the region.
This statement was swiftly succeeded by a significant number of prohibitions on online gambling, including the suspension of gambling advertisements and the introduction of a new tax framework as the topmost agendas.
The novel measures were borne out of a need to curb gambling-induced harm and the substantial amounts of lost tax revenue generated by unchecked gambling operations, according to elucidations offered by the Prime Minister.
