The gambling business after legalization: how taxes increased more than 80 times

4 March 13:16

Tax revenues from legal gambling in Ukraine continue to grow rapidly. In 2025, gambling operators paid more than UAH 17 billion to the state budget, which is more than 80 times more than in the first year after the industry was legalized.

This was reported by Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Natalia Denikeeva in an interview with Ukrainian Radio, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".

Tax revenues have grown tenfold

According to Denikeeva, in the first year after the legalization of gambling, the budget received approximately UAH 200 million, while in 2025, the amount of taxes exceeded UAH 17 billion.

“Compared to the moment of legalization, when there was approximately UAH 200 million in revenue, this is an increase of more than 80 times. Therefore, this area is already a full-fledged sector of the economy,” she said.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation believes that the gambling industry has significant potential for further increasing budget revenues.

Half of the market may remain in the shadows

According to experts, a significant part of the gambling market still operates outside the legal sector.

Natalia Denikeeva noted that almost 50% of the market may be in the shadows, which means that with effective regulation, budget revenues could be significantly higher.

“If almost half of the market is in the shadows, then these 17 billion hryvnia in tax revenues could actually be doubled,” she emphasized.

What representatives of the gambling business say

The president of the Association of Ukrainian Gambling Business Operators, Oleksandr Kogut, said that the industry is gradually coming out of the shadows and becoming more transparent.

According to him, UAH 17.4 billion in taxes is an amount comparable to the budgets of large Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv, Dnipro, or Mykolaiv.

He also noted that the association’s members provide about 82% of all tax revenues in the industry.

What taxes does the gambling business pay?

The largest payments in the industry in 2025:

corporate income tax — UAH 11.2 billion;
personal income tax — UAH 4.1 billion;
military tax — UAH 1.2 billion.

According to estimates by research companies Kantar, Gradus, and Factum, the illegal segment of the market accounts for 39% to 53%.

What changes is the government preparing?

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has already prepared legislative amendments to:

the law on gambling;
the Tax Code.

Key proposals include:

the establishment of a single tax rate of 18%;
elimination of double taxation;
a new approach to taxing winnings — only on the player’s actual income.

In addition, there are plans to introduce a system of permanent digital market surveillance, which will include:

monitoring of gaming behavior;
self-restriction tools for players;
increased responsibility for operators.

Gambling market potential

According to experts, the Ukrainian iGaming market currently generates approximately €1.4 billion in revenue per year, but could grow to €3–4 billion.

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