The Parliament of Georgia has fast-tracked and passed in the third and final reading a package of legislative amendments enabling the country to host international gambling tournaments.
The legislative initiative was introduced by lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party and passed in its final reading with 73 votes in favor and 5 against. The consideration and adoption of the bill took just two plenary sessions.
During the two-day deliberations, the draft legislation was modified. In particular, lawmakers raised the mandatory threshold of foreign participants required to hold an international gambling tournament from 70% in the original draft to at least 80% of the total player pool.
In addition, a provision imposing a fine of 150,000 lari on unauthorized individuals or entities for organizing an international gambling tournament was removed from the initial version of the bill.
Under the newly enacted law, an international gambling tournament is defined as a casino-organized gambling competition with a prize pool guaranteed in advance by the organizer, in which foreign nationals account for at least 80% of all participants.
According to the bill, if an organizer uses a gaming table exclusively for an international gambling tournament and the tournament’s prize pool exceeds 3 million lari, the organizer is exempt from paying the standard gambling business fee levied on gaming tables.
Furthermore, the organizer is granted the right to generate revenue from holding the international gambling tournament. Staging such tournaments will be permitted both within venues licensed to operate a casino and outside their premises.
A natural person’s taxable income derived from winnings in an international gambling tournament will be taxed at a 20% rate. At the same time, income earned by foreign citizens from participating in an international gambling tournament with a prize pool exceeding 3,000,000 lari will be fully exempt from taxation.
The legislation passed by parliament also establishes a fine of 50,000 lari for violating the permit terms and conditions governing the organization of international gambling tournaments.
The legislative initiative faced criticism from the Georgian Patriarchate, the Public Defender’s Office (Ombudsman), and opposition parties.
