Gambling business paid almost UAH 9 billion in taxes in 5 months
12 June 2025 23:21
In January-May 2025, gambling companies transferred UAH 8.97 billion in taxes to the state budget, which is 22.3% more than in the same period last year. Compared to 2021, revenues increased 125 times. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy Danylo Hetmantsev.
Hetmantsev notes that in January-May 2025, the Ukrainian gambling business paid almost UAH 9 billion in taxes to the budget.
The largest share of revenues came from income tax – almost UAH 6 billion. About UAH 2.15 billion of personal income tax was paid on winnings, and another UAH 652 million was paid in military duty. Payroll taxes amounted to more than UAH 100 million, and VAT – almost UAH 95 million.
In May, the industry’s cash register revenue reached UAH 4.87 billion, up 1.7% compared to December 2024. This growth is attributed to mandatory fiscalization, which has contributed to increased market transparency.
“As a result, the legalization of the market has a tangible effect: more transparency, more taxes, more funds for the country’s budget,” summarized Getmantsev.
Gambling business increases tax revenues
It should be noted that the gambling business paid UAH 5.4 billion in taxes to the budget in the first quarter of 2025. This is 20% more than in the same period of 2024 and 143 times more than in the same period of 2021.
Starting from 2024, the use of cash registers (RRO/PTR) was introduced for gambling businesses. In January-February 2025, the amount of revenue generated by cash registers/PTRs amounted to UAH 8.5 billion.
It is worth reminding that the gambling business in Ukraine came out of the shadows in 2020 when the Law “On State Regulation of Activities on Organization and Conduct of Gambling” (No. 768-IX) was adopted. However, full-fledged de-shadowing began in 2021, when companies started obtaining licenses and paying taxes.
Elimination of CRAIL
In December 2024, the Verkhovna Rada voted to liquidate KRAIL. The main reasons were accusations of corruption, inefficiency, political bias, and, worst of all, suspicions of cooperation with operators linked to Russian business. Law enforcement reports mentioned cases of issuing licenses to companies that acted in the interests of Russian online casinos, which became a critical factor amid the war with Russia.
The purpose of the PlayCity agency
The newly created agency is to exercise full control over the gambling and lottery sector in Ukraine. The main tasks are to ensure transparency, fairness, efficiency, and digitalization of the regulatory process. This includes automating the issuance of licenses, creating an open register of operators, and introducing mechanisms that will allow the state to receive real tax revenues from the market.
Organizational structure
The Agency will be accountable to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and will be coordinated through the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov. This indicates that PlayCity is planned to be built as a digital, technological body with high standards of transparency and accountability. In 2025, the agency will operate within the funding provided for the liquidated KRAIL, and the staff will include 61 employees, which may indicate an attempt to create a compact, efficient team.
Expected changes in the market
The launch of PlayCity is part of the government’s broader strategy to de-shadow the gambling business. It is expected that the new structure will allow for better detection and blocking of illegal operators, introduction of strict control over compliance with market rules, and increased tax discipline. It is also important that the agency’s digital mechanisms should ensure full traceability of financial flows, which will become a barrier to corruption and abuse.
The main tasks of the new institution will be:
- regulation of the gambling market;
- supervision of compliance with the law by operators;
- introduction of modern digital tools to control the turnover of funds;
- establishing transparent rules of the market;
- protection of players’ rights and prevention of gambling addiction.
It is expected that the agency will have more autonomy in personnel decisions, a transparent mechanism for forming the management, and will closely cooperate with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the State Tax Service.
Risks and challenges
Despite the ambitious plans, challenges remain. These include resistance from old market players who are used to operating in the shadows, as well as the risk of political pressure on the new structure. It is important that PlayCity remains independent in its decision-making and acts exclusively in the interests of the state and society.
The Cabinet of Ministers hopes that the reboot of regulation will help to
- increase budget revenues (according to various estimates, up to UAH 10-15 billion per year)
- ensure fair and equal rules for all market players
- increase the responsibility of operators for violations;
- reduce the influence of the shadow sector, especially in the online segment;
- introduce more effective tools to combat ludomania (gambling addiction), including the creation of a register of persons with restricted access to gambling services.
If the government succeeds in implementing the announced reforms, it will be a step forward in the fight against shadow schemes, improve the investment climate in the industry, and turn gambling from a source of corruption into a source of budget revenues.
