Casino City's iGaming Pocket Directory - 2016 Edition

88 Sponsored by Casino City’s iGaming Pocket Directory JURISDICTIONS The 15% POC tax is a tax on gross profits collected on any revenue generated by bets placed in the U.K. The new tax regime also requires any gaming operator doing business in the U.K. to acquire a U.K. gaming license. Before December 2014, most of the big operators in England operated offshore, where they faced tax rates as low as 1%. In France, licensed operators can only offer sports betting and poker. Online casinos are illegal. Poker and sports betting are taxed heavily and in a specific way. Each poker pot is taxed 2% – which has to be paid by the players. The 2% tax is not figured into the rake. There’s also a 2% tax on tournament entries. There’s an 8.5% tax on each sports bet made. These high tax rates have virtually hobbled the industry in France. In addition to tax costs, the burden of complying with regulations in different countries has increased the cost of doing business. And once again, France has some of the most onerous regulations in Europe. Private data for French players must be stored on special servers. Just as importantly, French players cannot play against players outside France. The French market has been removed from the worldwide liquidity pool. So have the Spanish and Italian markets. In 2015, Portugal became the latest EU nation to regulate the industry, imposing a 15% tax on for sites that have gross gaming revenues (GGR) of less than €5 million, with the rate rising 3% for every additional €1 million in revenues, with a 30% cap for GGR over €10 million. The new regulatory schemes are affecting players as well. Players are seeing higher rakes and poorer odds in many instances. But they’re also seeing some increased consumer protections. The U.S. is in the process of repeating the same mistakes Europe is making — and seeing any progress it’s made wiped out at the federal level. At the end of 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice gave the approval for intrastate online gaming — gambling (except for sports betting) that’s contained by the borders of one state. Three states — New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware — have taken up the cause, with Delaware and New Jersey offering online casinos and poker, while Nevada offers iGAMING JURISDICTIONS OVERVIEW