ArmInfo. The gambling sector of Armenia may be subject to a 10% turnover tax in addition to the existing taxes and duties as early as April 1, 2025. On February 26, the parliamentary standing committee on economic issues gave the go-ahead to include the bill submitted by the NA member of parliament from the ruling Civil Contract faction Hayk Sargsyan in the agenda of the upcoming March 4 session of the NA and established a special, urgent procedure for its consideration - within 24 hours.
On February 5, in the first reading, the committee already issued a positive conclusion on the submitted amendments to the Tax Code. After that, the consideration of the bill was postponed for two weeks, and relevant discussions were held in the government.
, Sargsyan said. The corresponding change will be made to the draft between the first and second readings.
MP of the opposition faction Tadevos Avetisyan noted that the bill is too voluminous and touches upon many problems in the sphere to be discussed within 24 hours and then applied from April 1. In addition, he noted, it is not possible to effectively combat gambling addiction by increasing the tax burden alone.
The initiator of the bill agreed with the latter argument, noting that the initiative only solves fiscal problems that will later help solve the social problems of citizens that have arisen due to gambling.
Earlier, Hayk Sargsyan, presenting the initiative to the commission, said that over the past 13 years, the turnover of gambling, online gambling, virtual gambling, lotteries, betting and activities to organize online betting has been growing at an alarming rate. If in 2010 the volume of bets made in online gambling amounted to about 14 billion drams ($35 million), then in 2023 it increased more than 440 times, reaching 6.3 trillion drams ($15.8 billion). At the same time, the collected taxes and fees increased only 26 times. In 2010, about 1 billion drams (2.6 million USD) in taxes, or 7.2% of the volume, were collected from a turnover of 14 billion drams (35 million USD). In 2023, 33 billion drams (84 million USD) in taxes, or 0.5% of the volume, were collected from a turnover of 6.3 trillion drams (15.8 billion USD). Thus, as the deputy noted, the ratio of turnover and taxes paid decreased by more than 14 times.
Sargsyan recalled that over the past 5 years, a number of legislative changes have been made aimed at restricting the gambling business and increasing the tax burden, however, as statistical analysis shows, the measures taken are not enough and it is necessary to increase the tax burden again. The draft proposes to impose a turnover tax of 10% on the sector in addition to existing taxes and duties.
, - the NA deputy noted, adding that according to the most conservative estimates, with the adoption of the amendments, the state budget of the country will receive an additional 100 billion drams. Sargsyan expressed hope that in the future the country's authorities will take the path of completely closing the gambling business.
