Jurisdiction for sports betting entity

[ofsuser]

Hello everyone,

new fella here, found the forum whilst researching around.. Lots of great info and still shifting through it..
I am looking for a jurisdiction to set up a business entity through which to bet on sports using asian market bet brokers. I am looking into Malta, where this is supposedly possible. It would be a limited trading company with an EMI account.
Has anybody related insight/experience to this? Thanks.

 

[Sols]

Unless you go for Costa Rica, you will need a license. The cheapest and easiest options are Curaçao and Kahnawake. If you want more reputable, Estonia and Isle of Man can work. Malta being grey listed is a problem.

You will need a budget of at least a few hundred thousand EUR/USD to have any realistic chances of making it work. More if you go for an EU/European license.

 

[ofsuser]

thanks for the reply. regarding the license, the entity wouldn't be accepting other customers/bettors. It would be betting only on its own account exclusively.

 

[void]

thanks for the reply. regarding the license, the entity wouldn't be accepting other customers/bettors. It would be betting only on its own account exclusively.

any particular reason why you need to setup legal entity instead doing it in your name (as a physical person)?
in my experience you will only trigger more compliance issues

not mentioning the winnings taxation perspective that will be almost always against the company account - unless you have huge related costs which is rarely the case in this business

 

[ofsuser]

The reason is that bet brokers are pratically the only ones that do not limit winning players and that bet brokers are for the most part unlicensed. Licensed bookmakers do limit winning players. My current jurisdiction does not allow use of unlicensed sportsbooks. So I either relocate to a broker friendly jurisdiction (researching for that) and keep betting as an invidvidual, or switch to a corporate account that some bet brokers do offer. The taxation of winnings should not be an important obstacle if its in the 5-10% Malta like range.

 

[void]

The reason is that bet brokers are pratically the only ones that do not limit winning players and that bet brokers are for the most part unlicensed. Licensed bookmakers do limit winning players. My current jurisdiction does not allow use of unlicensed sportsbooks. So I either relocate to a broker friendly jurisdiction (researching for that) and keep betting as an invidvidual, or switch to a corporate account that some bet brokers do offer. The taxation of winnings should not be an important obstacle if its in the 5-10% Malta like range.

ok, makes sense then

 

[brave83]

Hello!

I had the same problem with legal taxation in sport arbitrage betting. I have norwegian tax residency and I'm EU citizen. My Asian broker is licensed in Curacao, totally unacceptable in any country around Europe. After a deep research, I found several solutions, which I will write to help find any solution for profesional sport arbitrage traders, which earn 100 k EUR and more/ per year.

1. Norway.
As I mentioned, I allready have TRC in Norway. It is possible to tax gambling winnings from unlicensed bookmakers in Europe. All you need to do is open sole proprietorship. Very high tax. 38% income tax and 11.4 % social security. Total is almost 50%!!! That's why I decided to change tax residency, but it is possible to tax income from unlicensed asian bookmakers.

2. Spain.
That is EU jurisdiction. You can also pay tax from unlicensed bookmakers. Proffesional traders have to pay also 50% tax!!!

3. Bulgaria.
That is the best option I think till now. Online gambling tax for unlicensed bookmakers is 10%. You don't need open any company, just need to apply for Tax residency which is very easy for EU/EOG citizens. I got very good advice about that from www.taxmonkey.bg
However, we still don't know if Bulgarian tax authority will force you to open freelance company or corporation. Even tax advisor don't know about that, how it will be taxed if you have to open any kind of company, so still it is unknown path.

4. USA LLC and Portugal.
Now start other, a little "unofficial way".
I receive money from asian brokers in EUR currency into Skrill/Neteller e-wallet, so if you open Delawere or Wyoming LLC and you will create bills, as "consulation service" in amount of your gambling winnings.
Sport traders playing in asian brokers/bookmakers can apply for NHR status in Portugal which gives fantastic opportunity for next 10 years to get dividends (in this case from USA LLC) from abroad and it is tax 0%. You pay out the amount direct from Skrill/Neteller into your new bank account in Portugal and declare it as a dividend from USA LLC.
All you need to apply for NHR status is EU passport/ room or apartment rental agreement for 12 months/ To have a 9500 EUR in your bank/ NIF number. It takes 3 weeks to get that unique tax residency. I recommend www.e-residence.com/nhr-for-digital-nomads/

5. Georgia
Georgia is nice country and people. Sport traders can also apply for one person company which pay only 1% income tax from turnover till approximatelly 180 k EUR/per year. All info how to set it up : www.expathub.ge
Here also you need to open 2 or 3 USA LLC and create bills from your winnings too each of them, as a for example "VPN rental service or similar" .You send from Skrill/Neteller payment into your Georgian account in EUR, and after you only need to declare that this amount you collect in Skrill/ Neteller is coming from your USA LLC customers.

That is all subjective. If anyone have other jurisdiction or idea how to tax gambling winnings from unlicensed bookmakers, please share with all of us.
I recommend 3rd option because it is 100% legal and easy to start, just still looking for something new because I don't know if I will not be forced to open corporation in Bulgaria and after can be problem how to tax it.

Thanks for attention.