Many places in the world that belong to different countries do not really govern themselves by the rules of that country. For example, Gibraltar, located on the Southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, is a British overseas territory that is independent in the way they govern their own affairs, excluding defense and foreign relations. However, licensing and regulating of online gambling, including online casinos and sportsbooks, is all Gibraltar’s business. These operations represent one of the main sources of revenue for the country and are overlooked by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority.
Since Gibraltar has always had the reputation of having some of the fairest online gambling laws and regulations, there are many online casino operations licensed from Gibraltar. The tax rate in Gibraltar is another reason why online gambling sites have used these licenses since the 1% rate was an almost heavenly option. However, all these operators have been given a wake up call recently with the official announcement the tax rate on online gambling will be increased from 1% to 10% from next year on.
This may come as a surprise for many online casinos and gambling companies, however it is not likely to cause a great commotion and is not a major cause for the relocation of these online gaming companies to a place with a softer tax regime. Value added tax is still not applicable, so it will still be more viable for online casinos than moving their business elsewhere to countries such as the UK or the United States. The online gambling business should stay the same across Gibraltar and there should be no change either in the competitiveness with other sites located in other jurisdictions, such as Superior Casino and other, since players can access online gaming sites from anywhere in the world. The Gibraltar gambling operators will simply have to deal with the increase in taxes.
