Ukraine to reintroduce 18% online casino tax

The chair of the parliamentary Finance Committee expects the tax to generate $41m a year.

Ukraine.- The Ukrainian parliament has reportedly reintroduced an 18 per cent tax on the turnover of online casino operators. Local media have reported that Danylo Hetmantsev, chair of the parliamentary Finance Committee, announced the move via Telegram yesterday (August 10).

Hetmantsev is reported to have estimated that the move will generate at least UAH 1.5bn ($41m) a year in fiscal revenue. Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak clarified that the 18 per cent tax will be levied on turnover – not revenue. It will be levied on the total amount of all bets, minus gross winnings.

In other developments, new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) legislation has come into effect in Ukraine, including new rules for inspections of gambling operators. Operators can be subject to both planned and unplanned inspections by the national Gambling regulator KRAIL.

A decision to inspect a gambling operator’s premises may be taken to clarify the nature of a gambling operator’s operations, to identify financial risks, to assess an operator’s risk management system or to check the operator’s compliance with legislation. The frequency of inspections will be determined based on each operator’s AML/CTF risk exposure level.

Ukraine proposes ban on credit for people who self-exclude from gambling

Meanwhile, new rules proposed by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy would ban banks from giving credit to people who have self-excluded from gambling. Banks would have to check the national self-exclusion register before lending money.

The rule would apply to self-exclusion from either land-based or online gambling, preventing those who have registered from either form of exclusion from entering into credit agreements. The proposed legal amendment still requires approval.

As of the end of April, there were 687 people on Ukraine’s gambling self-exclusion list. The Ukrainian gambling regulator, KRAIL, reported an increase in the number of self-exclusions. It said that 245 people registered for self-exclusion in the first four months of the year. That compares to 195 registrations in all of 2021 and 315 in 2022.