ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Roustam Badasyan, Artur Manukyan, Marianna Grigoryan and Davit Baklachyan, Badasyan Consulting LLC
use of uncertified gaming products, the employment of personnel without the requisite operational permits, operating outside authorised premises or websites, or the non-fulfilment of financial obligations. During the suspension period, the organiser is prohibited from conducting gaming activities, except for the payment A revocation of licence applies in cases of submitting false information, repeated breaches, violations of ter- ritorial restrictions on land-based gambling, failure to establish gaming accounts or verify player identities, and provision of distorted or incomplete information in licence applications that would otherwise have resulted in refusal. Enforcement Practice As the current regulatory framework was adopted rel- atively recently, no significant enforcement practice has yet been established in Armenia. 11.3 Financial Penalties of winnings. Revocation Financial penalties are imposed and collected by the Supervisory Authority in accordance with the Gam- ing Law, the Law on the Organisation and Conduct of Inspections in the Republic of Armenia, and the Law on the Fundamentals of Administration and Adminis- trative Proceedings. Fixed fines are determined based on the nature and frequency of the violations. For instance: • a breach of the minimum payout requirement (90% for random-number-generated games) incurs a fine of AMD500,000 (approximately EUR1,119) per gaming product (or per game in online settings); • violations of the requirements relating to premises, surveillance, visibility restrictions, or internal pro- cedures result in fines of AMD2 million (EUR4,478) for first-time offences, increasing to AMD5 million (EUR11,195) and AMD10 million (EUR22,390) for
repeated breaches within one- and two-year peri- ods respectively; • a repeated breach following a warning within a two-year period triggers a fine of AMD300,000 (EUR672); • failure to notify the authorised body of non- material changes in licence-related data is fined at AMD200,000 (EUR448) per case; • for lottery organisers, failure to form or allocate the required prize fund (at least 50% of ticket sales) results in fines equal to double the unallocated or untransferred amount; and • if the same or similar violation occurs within one year after a fine has been imposed, the amount of the fine increases by AMD1 million (approximately EUR 2,239). Additionally, delays in submitting reports or includ- ing inaccurate data may result in administrative fines being imposed directly on the organiser’s manage- ment under the Code of Administrative Offences. In Armenia, the taxation of gambling varies by sector and type of activity. Player winnings are subject to a tiered regime: winnings from licensed gaming activ- ity organisers are generally taxed at 5%, “large win- nings” exceeding AMD5 million (EUR11,195) are taxed at 10%, and winnings derived from unlicensed gaming activity organisers are subject to a 20% tax. For win- nings other than large winnings, the taxable income is calculated as the positive difference between the total winnings credited to a player’s account (gross gaming revenue (GGR)) during the reporting year and the total bets or participation fees paid. Corporate income tax at 18% applies to organisers’ profits, while gaming operations remain exempt from VAT. 12. Tax 12.1 Tax Rate by Sector
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