The Organizer's Taxation Object
The eightieth article of the Tax Code of Georgia determines what is considered the taxation object for a physical person engaged in the gambling business. Under this article, for a physical person who receives income from organizing a slot machine hall and/or organizing gambling games in a systemic-electronic form, the object of income taxation within that part of the activity is the difference between the bets received from players and the winnings paid out to players.
This construction is fundamental: the organizer is not taxed on the full turnover of the game but only on the part that remains between the bets and the winnings paid out. Paid winnings thus reduce the taxation object — which is why their correct accounting and documentation are the central element of determining the tax base.
It is also worth emphasizing the necessity of two-sided accounting: the correct calculation of the taxation object is possible only where both the bets received from players and the winnings paid out to them are recorded simultaneously. Incomplete accounting of either side of these two flows either inflates the object or harms the organizer — in both cases a risk of escalation with the tax organ arises. Therefore, in designing the accounting system, the synchronization of these two flows must be written in as the first requirement.
The Rate Regime
The rates are established by the eighty-first article of the Code. Under the general rule, the taxable income of a physical person is taxed at 20 percent. For the gambling sphere it is determined that the taxable income of a physical person received from organizing a slot machine hall and/or organizing gambling games in a systemic-electronic form — except the part connected with foreign citizens — is taxed at 20 percent.
A separate rate concerns income connected with foreign players: the organizer's taxable income received as a result of the participation of foreign citizens in systemic-electronically organized gambling games and/or systemic-electronically organized totalizator games is taxed at 5 percent. Correspondingly, the eightieth article also envisages a separate object — the difference between the bets received from players holding foreign citizenship and the winnings paid out to those players.