Vanuatu, Belize and Panama often appear together in intermediaries' decks as "budget alternatives" to expensive European jurisdictions. Verification against official sources shows something entirely different: in offshore gambling licensing these three states are three different realities. Vanuatu has a real, readable statute — an Interactive Gaming Act — but around it sits a fog of agent marketing whose published numbers are not law. Belize has an official moratorium — no new online licences are being issued, and a cease-and-desist demand has been published against self-declared "licensees". Panama has a functioning regulator and an internet vertical, but no official price list for the online licence. This page examines each separately, from official sources, and closes with the Georgian cross-border layer — which works identically in all three cases.
Vanuatu: a real statute behind the agent fog
The foundation of Vanuatu's interactive-gaming regime is the Interactive Gaming Act [Cap. 261] — the official text is published on the tax authority's site, and we have read it in full. The act originally commenced on 31 May 2000; the current consolidation dates from 2018. Its architecture: an application may be made only by a local company registered under the Companies Act of 1986; the licence is granted or refused by the Minister responsible for finance; and the regulator — in the direct wording of section 34 — is the Director of Customs and Inland Revenue. The act requires a code of practice and an annual report tabled in Parliament; the beneficial-ownership threshold is 25%.
The statute sets two financial boundaries. First, the licence fee is prescribed by regulations, payable on grant and on each anniversary, with a 100% surcharge for late payment written into the act. Second, the interactive-gaming tax is capped by the statute itself: fixed-odds wagering at up to 5% of gross turnover, any other case at up to 18% of gross profit — the operative rates are set by regulation. Land-based gambling is regulated by a separate act (the Gaming Control Act [Cap. 172]), whose official figures are published: the private (non-profit) club licence at 1,650,000 vatu with a 7.5% duty on gross profit, and the hotel licence at 5,000,000 vatu with a 30% duty on total gross profit; returns are filed monthly by the last working day of the following month, with a 10%-per-month late penalty.
Now the part that concerns agent marketing. The internet space is dominated by the site of a commercial operator describing itself as the "sole exclusive agent" for the interactive-gaming licence, in "partnership" with the tax authority as regulator. The fee, tax and term figures it publishes — including payment in cryptocurrency — are commercial marketing, not law, and this page deliberately does not repeat them. The same source's narrative of a 2024 "new portal" and reform is not officially confirmed either: the latest official consolidation is from 2018. The conclusion: Vanuatu's statute is real, but every number coming from an agent's site must be verified directly with Customs and Inland Revenue.
Belize: an official moratorium
Belize is an entirely different case: here the question is not reading a statute but establishing the current official position. The competent unit of the Ministry of Investment — which issues licences on behalf of the Gaming Control Board — published an official notice in June 2025 whose formulations everyone offered a "Belize licence" should memorise: Belize currently has a moratorium on issuing online gaming licences; no online gaming companies are currently licensed to operate from Belize; no licences will be issued until further notice; and all entities claiming to possess an online gaming licence from Belize must immediately cease and desist — such operations are unauthorized and illegal. The moratorium was first announced in May 2024 and restated in June 2025.
From this follows the page's main instruction for the Belize section: Belize must not be presented in a comparison table of alternative jurisdictions as an available option — it is closed. If someone offers you a Belize online licence, that is in itself an alarming sign: by the official position, such licensees do not exist. Even if the moratorium changes, the first step is verification against the Ministry's official pages.
Panama: a working regime with an internet vertical — and no official price
In Panama the regulation genuinely works. The Gaming Control Board (Junta de Control de Juegos) sits within the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and its legal chain reads from the documents: the Board was created by decree-law in 1947, restructured by the decree-law of February 1998 (published in the official gazette), and subsequently supplemented by statutes. The ministry's own page names the Board's mandate as controlling, supervising and regulating games of chance and betting activities, and lists internet gaming among the regulated verticals outright. The chain of operational resolutions is open too: the sports-betting resolution dates from 1999, the online-gaming resolution from 2002; there are further resolutions on casinos and machines, bingo halls and device types.
That the regime is alive also shows in its responsible-gaming policy: the relevant section was created at the end of 2021, self-exclusion resolutions were issued in 2022, and a resolution of October 2022 sets responsible-gaming measures both in halls and on operators' websites — the latter confirming that website-operating licensees really exist in the regime. Now the limitation: internet-gaming contracts are administered by the Board, but official figures for the online licence fee and tax are not published on the ministry's page — only agents' numbers circulate in the market, and this page does not repeat them. Market talk also attributes website-blocking powers to a new law; that report is not officially confirmed and must be verified with the Board. The conclusion for Panama: the regime is real, its structure and process read officially, but a budget can only be built on figures obtained from the Board directly.
The Georgian cross-border layer
For all three jurisdictions the Georgian layer is identical — the main stable point of this page: none of their licences creates access to the Georgian market. Article 5, part 1 of the Georgian law on gambling ties organising and supplying into Georgia to a Georgian permit, and article 11, part 2 grants that permit only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia. In all three cases the first question is therefore the same: who is the Georgian person behind the structure.
The articles of the layer are identical too: article 80, part 7 of the Tax Code — margin taxation of an individual organiser; article 81 — the rates, including the 5% line; article 8 — player winnings and loss offsetting; article 171(b) — VAT exemption of gambling services. Reporting: articles 3, 11 and 12 of the AML law where a Georgian entity is in the chain; article 29(b) of the gambling law — winnings registration with reporting to the Financial Monitoring Service; article 36-1 — the selected-person regime for system-electronic supply. And articles 951 and 952 of the Civil Code: a claim arises only from a permitted game — disputes on unlicensed foreign platforms carry the no-claim risk.
Frequently asked questions
Four questions repeat themselves across all three jurisdictions.
Which of the three is the most reliable option?
These are three different realities that do not sit on one scale. Vanuatu's statute is real, but the numbers are set only with the regulator; Belize is closed by moratorium and is not an option; in Panama the regime works, but the online fee is not officially published. The choice starts not with price but with establishing which reality fits your model.
Why does this page not carry the prices circulated by agents?
Because the source level differs. In Vanuatu's case the agent's site is not the law, and its figures — including crypto-denominated payment — are marketing; in Panama's case no official online fee exists. Our rule: a number is published only when it is in the official text of the regulator or the statute.
Can a Belize online licence be bought?
No — and the question itself is alarming. By the official notice, Belize has a moratorium, no online company is licensed from Belize, and every entity claiming such a licence must cease operations. Any such offer is directly contradicted by the official position.
Do these jurisdictions' licences replace a Georgian permit?
None does. Articles 5 and 11 of the Georgian gambling law tie organising and supplying into Georgia to a Georgian permit, issued only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Legal.ge starts the examination of these three directions from official sources: for Vanuatu — from the text of the act and direct confirmation of the numbers with the tax authority as regulator, treating agent offers separately as a contractual, not regulatory, risk; for Belize — by establishing the current status of the moratorium and, where needed, planning the wind-down of a Belize structure; for Panama — by verifying the Board's mandate, resolutions and current practice, and by obtaining fee figures directly. For all three we build the Georgian layer in parallel — the tax and reporting plan of the person behind the structure, under the relevant articles. See also our comparative jurisdiction guide — and contact us before you decide on any "budget alternative".