Cyprus is one of the largest business centers in the world. Many of the most powerful Gaming operators are concentrated here. The legislation of the jurisdiction offers attractive conditions regarding the tax regime, in particular, in some cases, the tax levy on dividends is 0 for non-tax residents. In addition, the commercial market in Cyprus is quite multifaceted and covers many areas. In this article, we will talk about what privileges a betting license in Cyprus gives and how to get it.
Betting Law 2012 outlined a partial regulative framework for the control and regulation of bookmakers. In addition, some rules and regulations have been updated, while others have been completely replaced by others. Land-based bookmakers and online betting operators are overseen by NBA.
Permission is available in following categories:
- class A – regulation of sports bets made in land-based bookmakers. Horse racing and activities, which will be indicated in the paragraph below, are exeptions;
- class B – online betting – virtual operations in this segment. Exceptions are slot machines and lotteries.
Filing an application for betting license in Cyprus
In order to obtain a permission for sports betting, next-mentioned points are put forward for classes A and B:
- Cyprus registered shares;
- firm may be registered in another state, however, it needs to have a branch in Cyprus or be in official relations with one or another Cypriot enterprise. Activity of the latter should also consist in betting operations. In this case, the share capital of the company must be at least 500 thousand euros – for both foreign and local structures;
- a guarantee from a bank in Cyprus or another country that is a member of the EU, in the amount of 550 thousand euros. The period of validity of the guarantee must extend to six months after the receipt of the authorization;
- the ability to demonstrate and prove the availability of sufficient resources to pay out winnings to players;
- having an adequate and properly functioning accounting and control system in order to provide betting services;
- the ability to fulfill norms established by Law and NBA regarding players’ protection mechanism.
Gambling license in Cyprus is provided for 1-2 years. The permit can be extended. For this, the company draws up a separate application. The NBA has the right to revoke existing permits if the firm fails to follow certain rules and procedures established by the 2012 Act.
- Virtual bets prohibit operations involving cash.
- Category B permit prohibits receiving bets if account opened by user does not have sufficient money.
- Licensee B needs to keep active account with banking establishment in Cyprus.
As regards the payment of taxes, the general rate is 13%: 10% is levied on net income and 3 – contribution to Supervisory Office. Also, in addition to legislative ones, some technical requirements are put forward for firms related to betting.
- Availability of backup server in state. It must be connected to a computerized common system, which makes it possible to carry out transactions and save data on bets made in real time.
- The address of the resource used by the firm should end with “.com.cy”.
- Platform that an entity uses for betting needs to function and be structured in accordance with criteria that are set in Betting Law 2012.
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