Bulgarian online gambling law

 II. PART

The taxation of online betting and news for offshore zones and gambling.

            In 2013, in the Bulgarian Gambling Act was introduced the two-component fee for the issuance and maintenance of a license for online betting. The fee consists of two components. The first component is a one-time fee with a constant amount of BGN 100 thousand. The second one is a variable fee which amounts to 20 percent on the difference between the value of the bets received and winnings paid (Art. 30, para 4 of the GA) or the so-called Gross Gambling Revenue.The operators shall submit monthly information to the Commission for the bets received and winnings paid, and pay in the fee.

            A streamlined procedure has been provided in the Gambling Act for the issuance of licenses for online betting. In the event that there has been concluded an agreement for co-operation and information exchange between the State Commission on Gambling and a regulatory body in a EU Member State or according to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Swiss Confederation.Then for the operator of gambling games which has a license in one of the listed states can be considered as proved the facts and circumstances which are requirements for issuing a license under the law of the state where it is licensed. The Commission officially requires information from the competent authority of the Member State concerned.

            When there is no agreement concluded between the regulatory authorities of the Member States, the searcher can present a certificate from the competent authority of the Member State in which their license for proving certain facts and circumstances has been issued. The requirements which the legislation of the Member State imposes in relation to the issuance of the license and the proving of these requirements by the person to whom the license has been issued must be verified.

 

            Currently, how many licenses for online betting are issued? The issuance of licenses of online operators in Bulgariabegan in 2013, nine licenses having been issued so far. Only two of the world famous operators of online gambling games on the NET are present on the Bulgarian market. Until now, it was an obstacle that the Bulgarian legislation prohibited companies registered in jurisdictions with preferential tax regimes (offshore companies) to hold a gambling license in Bulgaria. From the planned changes in the Law on Corporate Income Tax (LCIT) and in the Law on Economic and Financial Relations with Companies Registered in Jurisdictions with Preferential Tax Regimes (LEFRCRJPTR) or, for short, the Law on the Offshore Companies, it becomes clear that some countries no longer will have the status of jurisdictions with preferential tax regimes. That applies particularly to Gibraltar (Brit.), which is assumed to have a special status, but all regulations of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on the freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital, goods, services and people are applicable to it. Through the prism of gambling it should be noted that some of the biggest companies which offer gambling games on the Internet are registered in Gibraltar. Besides, after the entry into force of the bilateral agreements on administrative cooperation and exchange of information between EU and Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino, these countries too will be excluded from the definition “jurisdictions with preferential tax regime          s”. All this will enable companies which are registered in these countries to apply and obtain licenses for online gambling in Bulgaria. At the moment the most important betting companies in Europe are blacklisted by the Bulgarian Gambling Commission, and the access to their pages is not possible for Bulgarian citizens. Only the future will tell whether these companies are interested in taking advantage of the liberal legislative regime. Naturally, the Bulgarian State also will profit from the licensing of these companies. Eventually, in this way both users and the State will be benefit, and what is better than that!?

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