Gambling License International

Our Law& Tax Office incorporates companies and applys gambling licences for them in several countries (e.g. Malta, Gibraltar, UK, Costa Rica). Further, we advise you in tax planning and tax-free routing of dividends e.g. by setting up a holding. In the process of incorporating gambling company and obtaining a gambling licence we offer all relevant services:  

-Incorporation of the company, including Registered Office proper place of business

-If necessary or ordered: Trustee Director (place of establishment in terms of place of taxation)

-Apply for licence, business-plan, profit and loss statement

-On request: connection to software company for gambling-software

-Gambling regulation, draft of general terms of trade according to national Gambling Act

-Server hosting in the jurisdiction at your place of business of the company

-Connection to tax advisory firm at the place of business (bookkeeping, annual account & return, advance return for VAT, matters on gambling taxes)  

Choosing the right jurisdiction, several key factors are important. Depending on these factors we kindly ask you to answer the following questions in order to reduce the number of possible jurisdictions:

-Where do you reside, where do you usually live?

-Where do the shareholder(s) of the proposed Gambling Company reside, where do they usually live?

-To which customers in which countries shall the gambling be offered?

-Shall the gambling be offered to residents in the European Union also?

-Which kind of gambling shall be offered (Poker, betting, Bingo, Casino etc pp)?

-Will the gambling be offered on you own hosted platform o rare you going to offer it as a reseller /affiliate ie. will your games would be hosted by a company that already has a gambling licence? 

-I fit is a reseller program, of which country does the licence origin?

-If Lottery of goods or real estate: where is the real estate located?

-ETC Law&Tax Office Germany-

Gambling License – Gambling Law

Gambling and Betting Licences: General Legal Principles

In many countries, gambling and/or online gambling is banned or the preserve of state bodies. In the field of gambling, the law of the country where the  gambling company has its registered office applies, as a matter of principle, and the law of the other “state or states providing the service”. Example: The gambling company has its registered office on the Isle of Man and the gambling service offered is also aimed at clients in Spain, Germany and Switzerland, for example. Consequently, the gambling law of the Isle of Man and the gambling law of Spain, Germany and Switzerland come into play. 

However, there are possible solutions through the EU freedom of establishment and judgements of the European Court of Justice concerning the freedom of establishment or “Gambling Judgements” of the European Court of Justice: If a company within the European Union has a gambling licence, its services can be aimed at participants throughout the EU.

Thus, with a licence from Malta, the United Kingdom or Gibraltar gambling can be offered throughout the EU, as the national bans on gambling or gambling regulations would breach the EU freedom to provide services, if a licenced provider of the service were to be prohibited from offering a service in another EU member country (cf. European Court of Justice ruling of 09.09.2010 – C-316/07 inter alia). It must be borne in mind, in this connection, that Gibraltar does not belong to the VAT area of the EU.

Incidentally: The Isle of Man and Alderney are autonomous crown property and not members of the EU.

If what is involved is simply a “reseller service”, Cyprus is an additional possibility, as offering such a service is feasible in Cyprus without a licence.

Moving to a non-member country such as Belize, the Isle of Man or Costa Rica is also possible.

It must be assumed, as a matter of principle that such an “offshore licence” only gives the right to execute the service within the country where the company has its registered office, such as in Belize, for example, but not in other countries and/or in the EU. However, this raises the question as to how other countries will wish to impose sanctions, as these countries, as a rule, do not have any agreement providing for mutual judicial assistance with other states.

Costa Rica adopts a special position: provided that the gambling service is only directed at clients outwith Costa Rica, no gambling licence is required, only a trading permit.

What preconditions are required to provide proof that the business premises of the gambling company are located in the country where it has its registered office ?

“The location of the senior management of the business” centrally defines the location of the business premises – also on the basis of Article 5 of the double taxation agreement: Either the client or an agent relocates his normal place of residence/abode to the country in which the gambling company has its registered office (that is, to Malta, for example) and appears himself as the director of the gambling company, or our partner legal office in the country where the company has its registered office appoints a trustee director or full-time director. In addition, having a purely “post-office box company” must be prevented. So simply having a “registered office” is, under any circumstances, not sufficient. However, offices do not always have to be large. Actually, within the EU, in most cases, having a virtual office (company sign, your own telephone number, the ability to take calls in person using the name of the company, a fax service) in a business centre is sufficient. Gibraltar is a special case: Due to domestic law, having a business set up and operated in a commercial way has been a requirement for some yearsa now, that is, there must be at least one office and one full-time employee.

Learn more: Gambling License and Tax Law