Belarus' tax authorities to take online gambling under control

The Taxes and Dues Minsitry of Belarus is preparing a regulation to regulate and tax online gambling, BelTA learned from Taxes and Dues Minister Vladimir Poluyan.

This will apply to online games such as, for example, card game, slot and bingo games, etc. “The discussions are still underway. But I think this year, the document will be adopted. After this the work will start on its practical implementation,” the minister said.

According to him, now, for example, if the server, which conducts online gambling, is located in Bulgaria, taxes are paid in that country, despite the fact that citizens of other countries, including Belarus, can take part in the games held by Bulgarian organizers. "So we need to work on creating a portal for internet gambling in our country," said the minister.

"We estimate that if the process is based on the legislation that has been prepared, we project an increase in budget revenues from taxes on online gambling by about Br62 billion within three years," said Vladimir Poluyan.

The minister stressed that the tax authorities have made a serious step forward in terms of gambling taxation. The tax base has been expanded. A system of control has been established over slot machines and bookmaking offices that has been operating in real time since 1 December 2013. Introduction of this system allowed establishing the control by the state over gambling business revenues. As a result, in January-May 2014, the additional proceeds from taxes on gambling business were approximately Br18 billion.