The choice of a suitable jurisdiction to host an online gaming business is sometimes based not only on obvious criteria (simplicity of procedure and low licensing fees), but also on other significant factors.
In the case of the UK, this factor is the possibility of attracting a large number of solvent players from the richest countries in the world (England, USA, European Union). The UK, today, holds the palm in the international market of licenses for online casinos in terms of the total volume of the virtual market in monetary terms. This is due to the fact that the British are an extremely gambling nation.
Interesting Fact! According to recent surveys, more than 70 percent of the UK population participates in online games.
Given the rather high importance of online gambling in the country's economy, at the end of 2014 the UK government adopted a law on determining the taxation of online game operators at the players' place of residence. Thus, the state managed to reduce tax losses from the outflow of money to offshore gaming jurisdictions.
Since the adoption of this law, all gaming business owners who wish to advertise or provide services in the field of virtual gambling are required to obtain a local license and pay country taxes.
The licensing authority in the UK is the Gambling Commission, which issues and revokes licenses, as well as checks the activities of the gaming industry for illegal operations.
Organizational and legal forms of opening a company:
To obtain a license in the UK, the owner of a gaming business needs to register a local legal entity. In this country, the most popular form of company organization is a limited liability company (LLC). This form allows you to get away from the subsidiary liability of the founders for the debts of the company.
A feature of local legislation is the presence of many agreements on the avoidance of double taxation (including with Russia), which allows you to apply reduced tax rates on income, dividends, royalties, and so on.
Interest Rates: License Fees
License rates in the UK depend on the size of the gross income of the owner of such a business and on the type of activity. Of course, the fees for large market players are quite high and can reach almost 200 thousand dollars a year, however, for new online casinos, a 25% discount is provided for the first year of operation.
To calculate the amount of the license fee in the UK for the type of activity you are interested in, you can use a special calculator on the commission's website https://secure.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/. Here you can apply online for a gaming license and pay the initial application fee. In addition to the license fee, UK law provides for a 15% tax on gaming bets.
Corporate tax
Corporate tax in the UK is 19%.
The country's government is actively taking measures to reduce tax rates annually. Although for a European country, such a corporate tax is already considered quite low. It is an analogue of the Russian income tax, so the amount payable can be reduced by the cost of the costs incurred. A license for an online gaming business is issued in the UK according to a simple scheme and is valid for 12 months, which attracts investors from all over the world.
The minimum share capital of any UK legal entity is GBP 50,000. This amount is the minimum for the registration procedure and is not directly related to obtaining a license for an online casino.
It should be noted that UK law does not provide for the mandatory formation of an authorized capital before the registration procedure in case of opening a limited liability company.
Protection of personal data of players
When conducting a gaming business in the UK, all software must be certified and special cryptographic protection tools must be installed on it.
All game project software must exercise control over the collection and transfer of information about users. At the same time, the transfer of personal data without the consent of the player or without the implementation of appropriate information protection measures is strictly prohibited.
Other license requirements:
Contacts of the authorized body (Gambling Commission):
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