INSIGHT KAZAKHSTAN
In our view, Kazakhstan could be considered a “sleeping giant” of the former USSR
GAMBLING TAXES
Companies are subject to a corporate income tax of 20 per cent. Te tax base is the income of the company minus VAT and the amount of expenses for the company's activities.
VAT equals 12 per cent. Operators are required to register as a VAT payer if their turnover exceeds €207,000 per calendar year.
Tere is also an individual income tax (tax on winnings) that is equal to 10 per cent that is payable either by the players or by the operators as the tax agents of the players; the current market practice in Kazakhstan is this tax is covered by the operators.
To add to the above Kazakhstan regulatory framework also provides for additional tax payments for the main elements of the operator’s infrastructure. Te relevant fees per year are as follows (paid quarterly):
l Game table — €11,580 l Slot machine — €418
l Land-based totalizator cash desk — €2,093 l Online totalizator cash desk — €27,900
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Land-based Sports betting cash desk— €2,090
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Online sports betting cash desk — €20,930. MARKET SIZE
Te volume of the gambling market of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the end of 2022 was estimated at €1-1.4bn GGR , 95 per cent of which is attributed to the online sector. Te market is growing at the rate of at least 25 per cent year-to-year.
Te biggest brands on the market are Olimpbet (market leader), 1xBet,
Tennisi.kz, Parimatch, Fonbet, Pin Up.
CURRENT STATUS
In 2020, Kazakhstan made restrictive amendments to its gambling laws: l
l l l
region — almost 20 million population, high levels of internet and mobile
penetration, and regulations that neither help nor interfere (to some extent) in the
operations. However, there are definitely issues to be
addressed: the offshore sector is dominating the market because of the online casino ban, some parts of the
regulations are outdated and do not really go well with modern online operations.
system — TSUPIS. Tis development instigated a wide backlash from the local industry stakeholders and they managed to hold off the launch of TSUS up until to this day;
new mechanisms for blocking offshore operators have been introduced into the relevant regulations.
As mentioned above, TSUS idea was not met positively by the local industry; at the same time, since 2020 offshore operations continued to hinder the market’s perspectives regardless of the introduced mechanisms.
Owing to this, the discussion between the government, operators and society continued, and it is understood now that the Government is considering another reform of the market that should address the following pain points of the market:
l
gambling addiction, introduction of new tools for responsible gambling;
the types of events allowed for betting have been limited to sports events only;
betting shops can only be located on the territory of specially designated gambling zones (the same restrictions as for land- based casinos and slot machine verticals);
l
creation of the obligatory payment intermediary for the gambling industry — TSUS (“centre for recording of bets”); the inspiration for this initiative came from Russia where each and every sports betting operator is obliged to process all deposits and payouts through the obligatory payment
P136 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS l
revision of the approach to taxation as there is a discussion about the inapplicability of VAT to the gambling business; more to that Kazakhstan government understands that current taxation / licensing system is outdated and requires revision to be on par with the international practice;
creation of an effective model of control over the payment of taxes;
l gambling advertising.
It is expected that a draft law with a proposal for reforms will be introduced in Q3-Q4 this year, which will initiate a process of broad discussion of the future of the gambling market in Kazakhstan.
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