Online-Casinos.com – Bulgaria, is a country located in Southeastern Europe bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. This country of 7.3 million people has been experiencing a downturn in the gambling industry.
The number of gaming halls in the country has decreased by 33% in 2008-2013. While in 2008 their number was 975, it has decreased to 653 by the end of September in 2013. Angel Iribozov, the Chairman of the Bulgarian Trade Association of Manufacturers and Operators in the Gaming Industry says it’s the taxes that are keeping the industry from blossoming.
The 6th annual Eastern European Gaming Summit, will be presented in Sofia on 22 and 23 October 2013. According to Iribozov, despite the contraction in the gaming industry, the taxes paid have remained the almost the same with a slight increase of 0.24%. A new licensing regime for online gambling sites and a 15% income tax was introduced at the beginning of 2013 has resulted in the blocking of over one hundred unlicensed domains.
Joerg Hofmann, Vice President of Gaming Law Committee of the American Bar Association commented that “High taxes on gambling help the black market and when people want to get into the blocked site, they will find a way” In order to stimulate offshore operators to register and pay taxes in Bulgaria. The current tax rate of 15% which is considered too high especially by sport betting operators who opt to register offshore in order to avoid paying high taxes in Bulgaria.
Yordan Tsonev, an MP from Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms and chair of the parliamentary budget committee commented, “The present taxation regime on internet gambling needs to be liberalized in a way that will attract foreign registered operators to register themselves in Bulgaria and pay their taxes here. ”
