REFORMING OF GAMBLING TAXATION IN UKRAINE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Abstract

The article is devoted studding the reforming of gambling taxation in Ukraine in order to choose the most optimal model of taxation for Ukraine, taking into account the foreign experience of European countries, Ukraine’s commitments to the EU. By signing the Association Agreement with the EU, Ukraine has committed itself to bringing its national legislation in line with EU law. There are no direct commitments of Ukraine to the EU to establish some regulation of the gambling business in Ukraine. However, all European countries regulate gambling at the level of national legislation. Gambling has been allowed in Ukraine since 2020, but the current model of gambling taxation creates an excessive tax burden on the industry and contributes to the spread of illegal gambling. The article analyzes the current model of gambling taxation in relation to the cost of the license and in comparison with the tax models of other European countries. The authors conclude that European countries use a simple approach: "expensive" licenses – low taxes or "cheap" licenses – high taxes. However, Ukraine regulates gambling on the principle "expensive" licenses – high taxes, which does not contribute to the development of the legal gambling market, but on the contrary, the gambling business operates illegally. The authors also analyzed existing proposals to change the gambling tax system, as proposed in Bill №2713-d, and concluded that the proposed model contains a number of gaps that, if passed, could be used to commit crimes related to with the gambling business, and, as a consequence, to the growth of crime in Ukraine as a whole. Among the crimes related to the gambling business, the authors include: legalization of proceeds from crime (arms, drugs, smuggling, etc.); legalization of corrupt income; tax evasion, etc. In this article, the authors provide specific suggestions for improving the provisions of the bill, which will significantly reduce the risk of gambling-related crime.