During a session of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of Armenia, lawmakers discussed a proposal to raise taxes on the gambling industry by 10%
MP Hayk Sargsyan introduced the tax draft legislation, which suggests imposing a 10% turnover tax on gambling companies, which will be in addition to existing taxes and duties toward the government.
More specifically, Sargsyan emphasized that between 2010 and 2023, the volume of gambling activity surged by more than 440 times, yet, tax revenues from the gaming sector have only increased 26 times over the same period.
Despite previous efforts to regulate gambling and increase taxes, Sargsyan argued that these measures have been insufficient, being that the volume of gambling activity dwarfs the taxes collected by the state.
Based on his research, the MP believes that further increasing the tax from this sector is necessary to ensure the Armenian gaming industry contributes more to state revenues.
In light of this development, in June 2024, the Armenian Parliament approved a law that imposed new tax charges on gambling winnings in the country, a move that saw “large wins” become subject to a 5% income tax.
Moreover, Sargsyan said that if the new gambling tax proposal of Armenia is implemented in its current form, it has the capacity to generate an additional 100 billion AMD ($250 million) per year for the state budget.
In other legal news from the iGaming sector, the Swedish official gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has announced updated guidance on AML (anti-money laundering) and anti-terrorist funding, together with a revised risk assessment for the iGaming sector in the country.
