The new bill on the collective and horse racing betting, which will be submitted to the Council of Ministers soon, will change things in the sector of betting.

According to newspaper “Politis” the new bill aims at eliminating illegal betting.

The bill provides that gamblers will no longer submit a tax of 25% to the state, an obligation that will be undertaken by the betting companies.

Specifically, “the tax in each accounting period stands at 15% of the net revenues of the company”. This means that betting companies will pay a 15% tax on their net income, which is the total sums paid by gamblers, minus the cash paid as profits to them.

According to the new law, the Horse Racing Club will no longer have the monopoly in the conduct of horse races and inspection of horse racing betting and other organizations will have the opportunity to enter the sector.

“Applications for a B Class license (authorization on the provision of the services for the conduct of horse racing bets) must be submitted only if the applicant is an organization that carries out horse races in Cyprus”.

The law also provides that bets on foreign horse races are now legal and will be carried out by A and C class license holders only.

Bets will be divided in three categories: The horse racing bets, the collective bets and the electronic bets.

The Council of Ministers will also appoint a Betting Committee, which will be in charge of collective betting.