Armenian gambling operators facing Government tax hike

The Armenian parliament on Thursday heard a second reading of a bill designed to increase state duties in the country’s gambling industry.

The bill, authored by Civil Contract MP Hayk Sargsyan, passed comfortably with 58 in favor, two against and 17 absentions.

It had been amended from the first version which had included an extra 10% turnover tax, but this was removed ahead of the second reading in order to secure safe passage into Armenia’s legislation.

“The duties for online casino and bookmaking activities will be doubled with these legislative changes. We will have an annual extra 13 billion drams in state duties,” Sargsyan said.

The change in the law means state duties will double on the 1st April and will then increase annually until a national monitoring center is launched and an oversight body in the gambling industry is created.

In January, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave a press conference addressing the problem of online gambling in the country, saying, “It is a form of activity that exists in all countries and cannot be banned. If we restrict the internet, I am sure there will be many comments accusing us of limiting people’s freedom and taking a dictatorial step,”

“There has been no lack of political will; concrete actions have been taken, but the numbers are still growing. And here we ask ourselves: are we doing something wrong? I do not rule it out. Big money is being invested in this sector, and technology is advancing faster than we can keep up with,”

Armenia’s Civil Contract party is a centrist party and has been in Government in the country since winning elections in 2018 which were held shortly after the 2018 Armenian Revolution.

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