l Gambling is permitted for over 18 years of age. l
Gambling licence fee is €427,000 for slots, bingo, card games, betting etc (which can include online) or €200,000 for purely online gambling licences. Re-registration fee for gambling games is €37,000 and a re- registration fee for a venue is €30,000 (casino), €4,500 (slot or bingo hall) and €2,000 (betting shop).
l
Gambling taxes are €28,080 for roulette, cards and dice games per table and €5,172 for slot machines per year. Betting and wagering is taxed at 15 per cent of GGR and bingo is 10 per cent of GGR. Online gaming tax is 10 per cent of GGR.
l
Te lottery tax rate is 10 per cent for number games and the same for instant lotteries on income from ticket sales.
By the end of October 2021, there were 17 gambling operators plus the state owned Latvijas Loto (land-based and online lotteries), and there were nine land-based operations, three betting points and 13 online gambling operators.
Operating companies include the four largest operators - Admiral Clubs, Joker (Synottip), Alfor, Olympic Casino - plus Furors (Klondaika halls), Niks, DLV, Optibet, ViensViens, Baltent (SL Casino), LV Bet, Latsson Licensing (Betsafe), PAF, Laimz, Mr Green Latvia, Olybet Latvia, and Tonybet (which by the end 2021 was still in licensing and had not yet started operations).
Te industry has seen a steady increase in P180 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
turnover over the last two decades from €28m back in 1997 to a high of €277m back in 2007. Te industry declined during the global crisis to a low of €133m in 2010 but revenues have slowly crept back up over the last decade. Until Covid hit.
To compare the Latvian gambling industry at the end of 2021 with the end of 2019 - gambling volume in Latvia has fallen by two thirds.
Covid restrictions meant casino, gaming halls and betting points were all closed from March 22 until June 9, 2020 - from November 9 until June
Covid restrictions meant casino, gaming halls and betting points were all
closed from March 22 until June 9, 2020 plus from
November 9 until June 14 2021 and again more
recently as cases surged. Estonia re-introduced a
month-long non-essential business lockdown
between October 21 until November 15, 2021.
14, 2021 and again more recently as cases surged and the government was the first country in Europe to re-introduce a month-long non- essential business lockdown between October 21 until November 15 2021. Many businesses have to remain closed until the end of the state emergency (January 11 2022) including landbased gambling. In a bizarre ruling, remote gambling activities were also shut down from April 8 until June 9 2020.
Covid cases by November 2021 were at the 232,300 mark with 3,500 deaths and almost 3,000 new cases daily by its peak at the end of October.
Some, however, believe the closure of gaming halls and casinos has more to do with politics and the government’s stance on dealing with risks associated with gambling. October 2022 will see parliamentary elections in Latvia and many people support a reduction in gambling activity.
Prior to closure there were three casinos in Latvia – Voodoo and Kempinksy, operated by Olympic Casinos and Royal operated by SIA NIKS. Te number of gambling halls has declined by a third from 305 in January 2020 to around 208 (Oct 2021) almost halving the number of slots in operation (4,851).
Gambling revenues reflected this with a decline of 51.4 per cent in gambling turnover (€166.8m in 2020 compared to €324.3m in 2019) whilst GGR dropped by 51.9 per cent to €159.6m (€307m in 2019).
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