AGIB or The Association of Gaming Industry in Bulgaria has published its financial report for the first none months of the year. It highlights a decline in gambling taxes despite of the rapid growth in the industry. The Bulgarian Parliament’s taxation changes in 2023 caused the inconsistency.
The overall number of betting kiosks continues to increase according to the report of the AGIB. On the other hand, online betting flourishes. The authorities have issued online gambling licenses to 24 companies.
The industry paid less in taxes in the first nine months of 2024 in spite of the rapid growth. This is in comparison to the same period in the previous year. This resulted from changes to the Bulgarian gambling law, which Parliament approved at the end of last year.
The amendments introduced definite gambling taxes and fees. At the same instant, the Parliament approved lower taxes for the national lottery and sports betting. This has greatly benefitted local sportsbooks as well as betting kiosks.
For context, the Parliament unanimously agreed to lower the effective tax for lottery, bingo and retail betting. As a result, the National Revenue Agency now collects a one-time tax of BGN 300K ($162,019) along with a 20% tax on the difference between the total handle and the winnings paid out, replacing the previous 15% tax on betting handle.
As a consequence, the lottery and sports betting sectors paid only BGN 37 million or $20 million in taxes for the first nine months of the year. It marks an 11% year-on-year decline.
The iGaming license fee was raised from BGN 100K or $54,006 to BGN 400K or $216,025. This is while the lottery and betting taxes were lowered. However, the proceeds from this sector, also experienced a decline. It decreases by 6.6% for the year-to-date period.
