While the Finance Committee was completing the draft law on taxation, gambling market experts discussed what could help the development of Ukrainian gambling. At a press conference, representatives of the GC-UA Association and operators proposed their options for changes to the tax code. Everyone is concerned about the tax on winnings.
“In my opinion, the tax on winnings should be made in the equivalent of 15 minimum wages to make the administration of this tax easier. For the country, the market and the player. Because now we need a passport to register a player, and to write off the tax, we also need an identification code. This will lead to errors at the checkout and a corruption component,” - says Sergei Ivanenko, the founder of Volna 4444.
Representatives of First Casino are already seeing problems with tax on winnings. Their establishments have been open for almost two months.
“Many players pay attention to the fact that they won 1000 hryvnias, but in fact they will be paid with a minus of 19.5%. This creates customer churn. They simply go to the black market, and we do not receive our profits. We would like to see the rate cut down, and also that it falls not on the shoulders of the player, but on the shoulders of the enterprise. Yes, we will incur losses, but we will have a larger number of players, and, accordingly, the revenue will increase,” - says Natalya Estafieva, representative of First Casino Ukraine.
Representatives of the company also pay attention to the fact that it is impossible to account for each winner, because there can be hundreds of thousands of such people a day. Therefore, they propose to pay the total amount for everyone to the budget. They also ask the government to exempt businesses from income tax for three years. But experts agree that business will not work without amendments to the tax code.
“High unbalanced tax rates, including tax on winnings, create a green corridor for opening and operating offshore companies online and opening illegal halls that do not control visitors. The state needs to create clear rules so that the market is controlled and white,” - says Artyom Kuzmenko, deputy head of the GC-UA board.
Experts offer their versions of amendments to the tax code.
“One of the models that could be considered is 10% of the GGR, but at the same time, there would be 5% tax refund. This scheme was also implemented in Malta. You paid 10%, while 5% is credited to you from tax payments that the company subsequently incurs,” - says Lasha Shikhashvili, regional manager of FAN GAME LLC.
"Yesterday I had a conversation with one of the largest companies in Europe. They say very seriously that if there is 10%, then we are ready to consider, and already 15% is a lot. We have made more than one business plan for entering regulated markets. The tax rate greatly influences. If it is 10%, as opposed to 5%, then the payback of the entire business can jump sharply from 1.5 years to 3.5 years," - says Nick Rudenko, CEO of 8LAB.
But there will not be 5% of GGR - the Committee on Finance in the amended bill stopped at 10%. The tax will be levied on winnings over UAH 48 thousand. Triple license fees are canceled, and triple licenses already paid for will count towards future royalties. The supplemented 2713-D was sent for a second first reading of the Verkhovna Rada.
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