Serbia to hike gambling tax with new bill

New bill would also establish additional responsible gambling measures and allow up to 10 new casino licences to be issued.

Serbia.- Lawmakers in Serbia are pushing a bill that would set higher online gambling taxes but also expand the scale and scope of the country’s casino industry.

Serbia currently taxes online gaming at 5% of GGR but the new bill would increase this to 15% for online betting and 10% for other games.

The bill would also allow for up to 10 licenses to be awarded in addition to the two licences that are already active.

The new bill also includes additional responsible gaming requirements that operators must meet, including messages in all adverts reminding minors not to gamble.

In addition to this, an electronic surveillance system would be implemented to detect illegal websites and once uncovered, the Serbian Gaming Authority would shut them down.

“We are witnessing breaches of the rules,” lawmaker Danica Bukvic said.

“The fact is that children are betting and giving money to adults to pay for them to bet. Strict controls are necessary to prevent all this,” she added.