Georgia’s Parliament is reviewing a bill that would create new gambling permits restricted to foreign citizens and stateless persons, taxed at 5% of gross gaming revenue. The amendments, submitted to Parliament for expedited consideration, sit under the Law on the Organization of Lotteries, Gambling and Prize Games and would establish three new permit categories covering online casino games, slot machine games and sports betting services for international customers. Each permit would run for five years and carry an annual fee of GEL 100,000.
The bill presents the move as a way to draw international gambling companies into Georgia without widening access for residents. Only foreign citizens and stateless persons would be allowed to participate in games offered under the new international licenses. Operators would also pay a monthly tax calculated on the difference between bets received and winnings paid out, and would face a GEL 20,000 fine for violations of permit conditions or fee payment deadlines. The framework sets up a new international permit track that runs alongside the existing domestic-facing permits, with different rules and a different tax rate for each.
What the Bill Would Do
The amendments would insert a new tier of permits into the existing Law on the Organization of Lotteries, Gambling and Prize Games. Operators who want to serve players outside Georgia would apply for one of three new international permits, running alongside the existing domestic-facing permit categories.
Under the draft, a single international permit would also be tied to a single internet domain. Existing permit holders would get a transitional period before the new rule applies, according to the bill’s full text and explanatory note. The bill carves the international permits out of the existing law rather than rewriting the domestic-facing framework, which keeps the existing rules for Georgian-facing operators intact. The package is now moving through Parliament under expedited review.
The bill’s explanatory note frames the move as a balancing act. The pitch to lawmakers is that Georgia can host gambling companies as an export business while keeping tighter controls on its own residents. The text also promises the framework would generate state revenue and pull in foreign direct investment.
The 5% vs 20% Tax Gap
The single largest number in the bill is the tax rate. Operators licensed under the new international framework would pay a 5% GGR tax, calculated as the difference between bets received and winnings paid out. The bill sets that rate against the 20% rate currently applied to standard online casinos accessible to Georgian citizens. For an international operator choosing where to base a regional site, that gap is the central incentive. The rate is also lower than the rates the same law applies to online gambling in the country today.
A 2024 amendment to Georgia’s tax code already set a separate rate for foreign-player revenue at online casinos, online slot salons and online sportsbooks serving customers outside Georgia. That earlier framework, which took effect on 1 December 2024, treated domestic-facing and foreign-facing operations under the same permit.
The monthly tax follows the same structure as the headline GGR rate. Operators also carry the annual permit fee on top of the monthly payments, with a fixed fine for any breach of permit terms or missed fee deadline. The package puts the annual fee, the monthly tax and the fine on the same schedule for all three new permit types.
The bill’s text also proposes cutting the number of internet domains allowed per permit from two to one, a tightening that affects every international permit category the same way. That rule is one of the few in the package that applies equally to all three new permit types.
Three New Permit Categories, One Common Fee
The draft carves international gambling into three distinct permits, each targeting a different product. All three sit on the same five-year term and the same GEL 100,000 annual fee. The structure lets a casino operator, a slot operator and a sportsbook operator each pick a single permit for an international-facing site, without forcing a single company to license every product it wants to run. The categories mirror the standard domestic-facing permits in the existing law.
- Online casino games for international customers
- Slot machine games for international customers
- Sports betting services for international customers
Each permit is renewable on the same terms. The monthly tax is calculated on the difference between bets received and winnings paid out, with the same rate applied to all three categories. The common terms across all three permit types simplify the comparison for an international operator that wants to run more than one product line, since the financial structure stays the same across casino, slot and sportsbook permits.
Why Georgian Citizens Are Shut Out
The exclusion of Georgian citizens from the new international permits is written into the bill’s core text. Under the proposed rules, only foreign citizens and stateless persons would be allowed to participate in games offered by operators holding the new international licenses. The framework is built on a hard yes-or-no line, with no sliding scale of access for residents.
Lawmakers backing the bill say the dual structure is meant to capture the economic upside of online gambling for the state budget without expanding access to the product at home. The explanatory note accompanying the bill frames the goal as attracting international gambling companies to Georgia while protecting local consumers from additional gambling-related risks. The text promises foreign direct investment, jobs in information technology, marketing and cybersecurity, and additional state revenue. The exclusion of Georgian citizens from international permits is the explicit trade-off written into the bill.
The framework is also built to make Georgia more attractive as a regional base, with the new tax rate and a one-domain rule as the terms an international operator would face. A company running an online casino aimed at non-Georgian customers can now point to those numbers when weighing whether to base itself in Georgia.
The Five MPs Behind the Bill
The amendments were initiated by five members of Parliament: Shota Berekashvili, Giorgi Barvenashvili, Tornike Berekashvili, Anton Obolashvili and Mariam Lashkhi. The five have appeared together on several recent pieces of business and economic legislation, including changes tied to the Office of the Business Ombudsman and to car import rules.
Expedited consideration does not skip committee review, but it does compress the timetable. The package is being moved in tandem with a separate bill tightening the rules on gambling advertising, raising the minimum gambling age to 25 and banning online payments to foreign gambling sites with Georgian bank cards. That separate bill is not the same as the international-permit framework, but it moves through the same session. The first reading is the next major step on the international-permit bill, and a vote would follow committee sign-off.
Where This Fits in Georgia’s Gambling Push
The new international permits build on a framework Georgia’s Parliament put in place two years ago. In June 2024, lawmakers adopted the 2024 amendments that set the lower GGR rate for foreign-player revenue at online casinos, online slot salons and online sportsbooks serving customers outside Georgia. Those rules took effect on 1 December 2024 and remain in force.
The 2024 framework did not create a separate permit for international operators. It let a single Georgian-licensed operator serve both Georgian and foreign customers from one permit, and taxed each side at its own rate. The bill now before Parliament goes further: it creates a new permit category whose entire purpose is to serve foreign customers, with the lower GGR rate baked in. The earlier framework is the closest analogue to what is now being proposed, inside the broader regulatory structure laid out in Georgia’s full gambling law country guide.
- 20% rate for standard online casinos serving Georgian citizens
- 5-year permit term for each international license
- GEL 20,000 fine for permit violations or missed fee deadlines
- 1 internet domain per international permit, down from 2
The new permits sit alongside other gambling legislation moving through the current session, including a separate bill tightening the rules on gambling advertising, raising the minimum gambling age to 25 and banning online payments to foreign gambling sites with Georgian bank cards. That package is being reviewed in parallel and is not the same bill as the international-permit framework.
For international operators, the practical effect is a single, lower-tax route into the Georgian market. For Georgian residents, the practical effect is a smaller pool of sites they can legally use. The bill makes both of those changes at the same time, treating them as a single legislative package.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can use the new international gambling licenses in Georgia?
Only foreign citizens and stateless persons can play on platforms operating under the new international permits. Georgian citizens are excluded from those platforms.
What tax rate will international gambling operators pay in Georgia?
Operators holding the new international permits would pay a 5% gross gaming revenue tax, calculated on the difference between bets received and winnings paid out. Georgian-facing online casinos currently pay 20%, the rate the bill itself names as the comparison. The annual permit fee is GEL 100,000, separate from the monthly tax.
How long do the new gambling permits last and what do they cost?
Each permit would carry a fixed annual fee. The monthly tax is set as a percentage of the difference between bets received and winnings paid out, with a GEL 20,000 fine for permit violations, and permits are renewable on the same financial terms.
Why are Georgian citizens excluded from the new international gambling licenses?
The bill’s explanatory note says the restriction is meant to attract international gambling companies to Georgia while protecting local consumers from additional gambling-related risks. Sponsors argue the dual structure lets Georgia pull in foreign direct investment and state revenue from online gambling, with the local-consumer protection written into the bill’s text as the trade-off. The same logic is applied to a separate package tightening the rules on gambling advertising, age limits and online payments with Georgian bank cards. The international-permit bill is a separate piece of legislation moving through Parliament in parallel, not the same one.
Who introduced the gambling permit bill in Georgia’s Parliament?
Berekashvili, Barvenashvili, Berekashvili, Obolashvili and Lashkhi introduced the bill. The amendments were submitted to Parliament for expedited consideration, a process that compresses committee review and shortens the timeline for a first reading. The same five have sponsored recent business legislation, including amendments to the Business Ombudsman’s office and to car import rules.
