Online gambling taxes in Russia up to 100 percent

The Russian government plans to increase taxes on online gambling revenue at least one hundred times higher than at present.

Russia.- Online gambling activities will see an increase in taxes of up to 100 percent. The announcement was made by Nikolai Oganezov, member of the Bookmakers Self-Regulatory Organisation during an interview with online gambling magazine bookmakersrating.ru.

Under the new measures, Russian online gambling operators will be required to pay a minimum monthly fee per jurisdiction ranging from RUB 2.5 million(US$36,600) to RUB 3 million (US$43,900). The new licensing fee structure has apparently been approved by the Ministry of Finance and will come in force on January 1, 2017.

Now, that is not the only taxes online bookmakers will have to pay. They ate also required to pay up to 5 percent of their revenues to Russian sports federations following an amendment to the Physical Culture and Sports regulations. A minimum payment of RUB 3 million (US$44,000) each quarter will have to be paid to each of the five sports federations. That means each online operator will be liable for a minimum of RUB 60 million (US$888,000) annually.

Furthermore, all gamblers placing a bet at a licensed Russian online bookmaker must have a TSUPIS account. TSUPIS is the centralised online payments processor through which all transactions are processed. TSUPIS was set up to comply with money laundering regulations allowing the government to monitor all the transactions passing through the payment service, which allows it to tax winning gamblers. Regarding online bookmakers, each transaction through the TSUPIS platforms is subject to a 1 percent commission.