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Recently many countries around the world are now introducing gambling taxation on it citizens and even charging betting houses and casino's some amount of money to operate within it jurisdiction, and recently my country just introduced a 5% Revenue sharing and taking from both betting houses and gambler's winning and this news make me to ask why the government takes such money from gambler's but won't protect the gambler when their is troubles with the betting house.


Because we have loads of cases where gambler's win some huge amount of money and the casino refusing to pay and when reported to the authority you here such things like the casino is not licenced by them or they don't have control over the casino case, the government is only interested in the tax and not protecting the interest of it citizens.

The answer to the question is very simple: the government is after what they can benefit from the citizens and not entirely what the citizens can get from them. They always say that they are fighting to protect the citizens rights, but what they are after is how to control and put all service providers under their watch. 
 
Anyone who has a case with a casino and the casino is licensed, I believe the person is not just supposed to relay on the government, but they can get their own lawyer and file lawsuits against the casino, as there have been cases of gamblers winning from such a case.

Government does not want to hear anything related to non compliance to their tax scheme regulations, because they are being strict about it, even despite me and you know that they are regulating nothing, but yet they have to task the people and collect tax from them, we should know that even with the tax being paid on other things we do aside gambling, not all were being accounted for on how they (government) spend or utilize the money, we have no choice than to go by what they demand, except if we want to fight against them but cant win.

Because the issue of taxation is completely different from conflicts which could raise between the casino/betting house and gamblers, you know.
Taxation laws are there put in place just to check on the money to flow and make sure both the casino and gamblers are paying their fair share. Solving a conflict between the casino and the gambler goes to a different category within the law, there are allegations which need to be resolve wither by regulators or even a judge if casinos and gamblers want to go all the way up to court.
That is a little confusion you have may have when comes to the reach has in the issues with casinos and bookies.
The ideal case scenario for both the casino and the government would be to have a huge volume of wager to collect and when corruption exists between casinos and the political administration itself, it is when gamblers are left abandoned and they do not have anyone to ask for help for.

Also, do not be afraid of regulation, in the most of the cases that will get translated to more fairness to gamblers and less chances to shady and scam casinos which try to attract victims with the false sense of legitimacy.

I know the advantages of regulations on the environment, and that is why when the gambling taxation was introduced it received the support of many player's in the market since it introduces the presence of government interest in the gambling sector and also a way of security for the gamblers just as you said, that regulations breed's fairness, which translates into gambler's protection so having taxation in different views and like and having dispute resolution in another light is somewhat a misplaced action.


So long that the government can take fees to allow gambling operations in form of Licensing, silane should be applicable to protecting the interest of player's and act as a mediator between the casino and it player's at most.

You are right that ideally, the government should be a mediator between the casino and the gamblers and protect their rights if something goes wrong from a casino's side, however, they barely care about customers and their rights and all they care about is the money they can generate from the sector. Even the casinos that are operating online are required to acquire necessary licensing to operate within certain jurisdictions, but a gambler either getting scammed or having a problem with a casino while having a valid case will have nowhere to go.

If you, as a gambler, have to hire a personal lawyer, and spend so much money to fight against a casino for doing something that they shouldn't do, then there is no point in a government taxing you for your winnings, but what can be said? They do it, and we may only speak for ourselves, most people choose to stay silent on such issues because they are too afraid of getting in trouble.

Let me tell you the simple truth. The government is after any sector that is thriving very well and generating a lot of money. And the reason why they want to be involved in that sector is that they want to benefit from it not because they want to help regulate whatever is happening in that sector for the people involved. Gambling and Casino platforms are one of the biggest and fastest-rising industries. The government wants to be involved in gaining the free money they can get all in the name of protecting the citizens.

If the government wants high taxes, then they should perform their duties properly if not they don't deserve the tax. When we calculate how much they gain from each gambler that wins we would find out that the government gets more than they deserve yet they take it for their personal gains.

99% of government demand towards taxation shows they have zero or no interest, taxing individually is something I still don’t get despite a win. Gambling regulation or problem should be solved within if the casino knows what’s right meanwhile cheating can be implemented so in situations like this such person needs help and I agree with op. Paying tax still guarantee something in return or else why demanding for tax, in general not just gambling rather other fields still face same issue.

You are right here. The government should have been an intercessor and mediator for the gamblers when they have an issue with the casino. Yet the opposite is the case. Once they get their taxes nothing can be done with anymore. Lets be hones i have never heard of any complains or problem of a gambler being carried upon by the government before. Perhaps it may have happen but only in few countries where the government take taxation and ther responsibility serious.

Sad but there, even if we pay taxes, government are not going to protect us from online scam sites or even land base casino themselves. I remember one case wherein someone filed a case against a brick and mortar casinos.

And the case drag for years until the judges decided against the player and favor the casinos themselves.

So it's very tricky for us, demanding taxes from gamblers and then at the end of it, there will be no government protection at all.

If you are playing in crypto casinos, mostly, you don't need to report your winnings to your government. Because they don't care also with your losses. So if they are not so strict, then, don't submit any of your gambling winnings.
And that's a fact, you can't rely from the government in helping you out of your situation. In most cases, the player will just move on and not file a lawsuit because aside from being expensive, it will take a mental toll to the player. So if the amount is not really significant, just let it go and learn a thing or two from that experience.


This is why pursuing a case is quite expensive because you need to hire your own lawyer. The government won't provide you one and allocate budget for you. This is your battle so think before filing a lawsuit. Is it worth to take or just look for a better casino to play with?

This is a topic that goes beyond imaginable complexity. First of all regarding the title of this thread, most jurisdictions have a tax law that has some vague paragraphs which capture essentially any and all income from all sources imaginable. I remember that there was some trouble when crypto came up and it wasn't clear how to tax it all and since that wasn't clear, they have come up with a provision that it must be taxed in some sort while waiting for judges to decide later down the road.

In gambling it is difficult for two reasons: the first reason is that people use casinos which are neither physically present in their jurisdiction nor regulated within their jurisdiction. But if they are regulated in that jurisdiction, then getting your rights enforced is a complicated matter in gambling as you have to prove your case. They don't just call another country in order to make their police raid the headquarter. Proving the case in gambling is quite difficult and once you proved it, how are you going to seize funds from the casino that only operates online and sits in the Cayman Islands? If you are right and judge says so, you would want a court officer go to the right place and seize funds, but this "right place" is the next big issue.

Well, that is why I said governments usually have a provision that captures any and all income. In many countries you would have to pay taxes on money you made with drug selling. The point is the goal must be to net get caught, but if you get caught and they can prove you made a million, then you owe tax on that million. It is wild, but it is true for a lot of European countries. I can't tell for others.

Simply because the government just want to take part in every money opportunity that comes, regardless if the establishment or casino’s customers are benefiting from it. That’s actually happening in most of the countries who are benefiting taxes from casino winnings. And that’s one thing we can do nothing about, otherwise if we won’t let our winnings to be taxed, either we won’t get to cash out our money or we won’t be able to enter licensed gambling casinos again.

We gamblers should pay for it particular on those who really won big amount in order to avoid being caught up by authorities. This is really a big requirements for all players specially for the stablishment who operated gambling. However, I don't exactly knew if online gambling do comply this thing about tax payments because it's so shady when it comes to that matter.

In fact, there is no point in this.

Generally, gambling regulations are not intended to help players after a fraud has occurred, but rather to create rules and procedures that aim to prohibit something like this from happening, as follows:

- Require the casino and its legal representatives to register, as well as an address within the country for someone representing them;
- Require casinos to comply with local legislation, providing contact by phone or email in the native language and requiring compliance with deadlines;

Measures like these prevent any site from starting to operate, and thus restrict the number of fraudulent sites.

But in my honest opinion, the real objective is just to collect taxes and make operations more expensive for both the casinos and the players.

Taxation and Regulation are two different things.

As upsetting as it is, there really are instances where the government prioritizes the taxation over guidelines and security measures which gives way for these platforms to exploit their customers. Since there is no clear and strict regulations, these platforms can basically get away with anything if they hide it well enough under the gray area.

You’d think that them taxing a platform means they will recognize both the benefits and possible risks of these platforms, but no they won’t. As a consumer, make sure to verify licensing and check your rights within the platform.

Not their problem in a sense imo. Regulation is more on how about the casino works on the country, and how the populace actually receives it. How their citizens get reached by the advertisements and stuff like that. The problem you're talking about is strictly outside of that since it's a problem between the casino and the gambler. And in those cases, they can easily just say "bring it to court" in a sense since that's exactly the place problems like that should be resolved. Just that it's up to the person themselves to prove it though.

Most likely, a government that adheres to such a policy is unethical and incompetent. Moreover, the actions of this government indicate that it wants to reduce the motivation for gambling both for players and bookmakers. And since the government does not protect players and allows bookmakers to cheat winning players, this means that the government is directly hostile to the entire gambling industry: it is hostile to both players and bookmakers. What will such a policy lead to? Most likely, to the fact that illegal bookmakers will multiply. There is no point in bookmakers becoming legal, this generally does not bring them any benefit. Players also generally do not need to use legal bookmakers, because they are almost no different from illegal ones.

Why paying tax on gambling winnings when government doesn't regulate Gambling? Printing more money causes inflation and that hurts your country and makes the fiat worthless. Tax is the only way that government can earn money that is maybe why he also want money from your winning hahaha.

In my country itself gambling is illegal I found video on internet that some group arrested by the police just playing slot online. Here the gov dont want your tax from gambling since that gambling is illegal. But in your case is a new case I dont really know about it and what country is that.

Paying tax when they didn't regulate gambling is pure joke in my opinion

Requiring gambling winnings tax is actually not proper thing, as I have said several times in other threads regarding winnings tax, the government should only apply it to casinos as form of tax for operating permits.
I don't know which country does this, but if I lived there, I would make sure not to use fiat casinos or local casinos to avoid winnings tax, it is better to gamble on foreign gambling sites that can provide me with security, comfort and various other benefits.
I think the government of the country where you live really doesn't care about its citizens who like to gamble, there should be lot of consideration before policy like this is made official, especially since it doesn't provide any benefits to the people there.

If I'm not mistaken, government doesn't tax gambler per se, it is still the casinos that they put a lot of tax. Except maybe if you won the local lottery, that's where the government tax comes in because it's obvious that they run it.


I lived in a country that have big traditional base casinos, but we are not tax when we won, they are the one paying the casinos. However, as per protection from online casinos, I do no think that there is enough regulations from many countries. And even if you file cases about a certain casinos, I do not know how it will be handle as obviously, it's cross border and laws are going to be that complicated to go after them.

Don't regulate gambling does not mean government does not regulate their citizen income tax. If you have income, you must include it in your tax report and very likely have to pay income tax for it.

If you win lottery, you will be charged income tax when you receive lottery reward but you can reclaim it if at the end of fiscal year, your total income is not high enough to be charged income tax. Same with your income from gambling, but of course governments have their regulations on gambling. In some countries gambling is illegal too and I believe that if you are gambling illegally, you will never want to report to government about your gambling and any income from it.

Even if they get a lawyer, how do you think will the court and the lawyer approach the case? Obviously based on the laws that the government has written. A lawyer won’t be able to do anything if there really is lack of legal protection from the government itself.

If your legal representative is really good and they can get somehow through the loopholes then they can make you win. But at the end of the day, the government should really make clear laws about this.

What you say is contradictory, if the government is able to charge a tax to the betting house, I don't know how they are going to claim that they have no control over it.

Surely what happened in Europe 10-12 years ago is happening in your country. Before that, as a citizen you were obliged to pay taxes on gambling profits, which practically nobody did. The gambling houses were based in tax havens, which meant that they ignored government requirements. But there came a time when online gambling was regulated and they were forced to have a licence to operate, paying an initial high fee and taxes based on their revenue. However, this came with accountability: licensing goes hand in hand with supervision, and if a player has a problem with a gambling house, they can turn to the general directorate of gambling or a similar body.

They see gambling as the fastest growing business and want to place taxation on them. They don't care to know if you lose or not, wether it affects your mental state or not. We are in the world where leaders don't protect the rights and interests of its citizens but what to benefit from them. Of course that is wickedness. If they want to place taxation on betting I think they should device a means to make it profitable for people before they can request for tax, but anyway I see no need why government will add tax on gambling because it's not profitable to the gamblers except for those casino shop owners.

If government can't handle issue between customers and casino owners In respect to financial issues then no need to place tax on them.

Likewise, I have seen many governments enact regulations and taxes on the gambling industry but they all target the casinos because they are in business. This is also the first time I have heard of the government taxing gamblers, which is really strange to me.
Regulations need to be fair to a certain extent, otherwise it will be counterproductive for the government because if it is too strict and extreme, I think casinos and players will find ways to evade taxes and circumvent the law. I think governments understand this better than anyone.


Frankly, these regulations don't make much sense and we shouldn't put too much faith in them. Simply because the government does not have the time and resources to resolve lawsuits or disputes that only involve a few hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars, they will prioritize resolving larger value litigation. So we should protect ourselves first instead of waiting for the government to protect us.

Thats true. If ever I got jackpot on doing gambling on crypto sites. Why bother to report it on your tax office, since they dont have jurisdiction to that site or they dont license it. Well if you want to pay tribute for that win then report it. But the case is if that gambling site is in trouble, and you got caught with for example (scam or hacked) you cant complain to the government about it and apprehended them. It not work that way, so its quite risky too (the thought I knew about it).

If I were in your position then it seems like there is no other option for me to do other than not complying with the rules given by the government to gamblers to pay a certain amount of money for taxes, because it seems unbalanced when you pay taxes to the government but the government does not take any action when the gamblers have problems with the casino such as the casino not paying the amount of winnings achieved by the gamblers or other problems.

I think that is the most appropriate action you can take, but it will also only be possible to do if there is no threat or punishment or maybe coercion from the government to you to pay taxes, or what is meant is when you cannot escape at all from the regulations implemented by the government in your country.

Government are the worst sets of people in the world who interest is only to what will add more dollars to their pockets and their families benefits from it instead of fighting for justice. Taxation on casino/gambling site is not actually the best but, seeing that they implementation taxation to gambling makes it so bad because when a gambler falls into addiction government wouldn't take care of them by taking them to the rehabilitation center, they are mostly concerned about their interest.

This is wrong, there will be no records of the taxation if they don't regulate it. It must be licensed in your country and that would prevent corruption because the numbers will be transparent and those who are really serving the country right can ask questions about where the money will go.
What the dude in your example did was right. He avoided paying because he knows the rules and it must be licensed first before they can get tax money from both the online or physical casino and the people.
If none of that is done right, it's all just going to their pockets and I doubt there will be a trace of that money even if someone will question it. They can just simply deny they didn't take any.

If this is their answer then play at a casino that is licensed by your goverment to protect you when faced with such cases.

However, if there are complaints about casinos, especially physical casinos, the government should take firm action by closing the casino if it does not have a license.

It is quite strange indeed if the government collects taxes but does not have rules that protect citizens from irresponsible casinos, it seems they are only care about the money which is indeed very large in circulation but do not care about cases that harm their citizens because of the actions of casinos, but I suspect that when casinos face cheaters they will not get defense from the government either, so the government only cares about money not citizens and casinos.

I don't know how far gambling is regulated in my country but I know that governments are more interested in taxations. Governments taxes every aspects of the economy, it's not limited to gambling alone, so I believe that what is applicable in other industries regarding taxations is also applicable to gambling. Normally if you have a problem with your gambling company, what you need to do is report them to the appropriate authority. In my country we have EFCC (Economic and Financial Crime Commission) I believe that they can give the gambler justice if he has a good case against the gambling company.

In recent years, people have become nothing more than cash cows for the government. Give them taxes from all types of activities and get nothing in return. Can this really be called a state governed by the rule of law? With a big stretch. In my country, everything has long since gone in a certain direction. No laws work. Just bring money to the treasury, and then do whatever you want and don't ask for anything. They've taxed you from all sides. You don't even know what to do in such a situation. Life has become too complicated and difficult, and existence has turned into some kind of burden.

Isn't there legal and illegal gambling that is called? The legal one benefits the government, and the illegal one is what the government doesn't want because the tax that should be for
the government is not benefited by them. That's why when the government of a country finds out about it, it shuts down and prosecutes it.

That's why, if we look at it literally, it's safer to play in a casino with gambling that is regulated under our government, so that at least the gamblers who play here have something to chase.

Taxation is from the class of perpetuate games the government uses to play with us. Thus the gambling is a good opening for any government  to have some extra taxes. We are gambling they are earning, we  gamble they buy lambos/seagoing-taxis/whatever-they-want for themselves ^{(circulation of our money, so to say}).

All money coming into the country is beneficial to the government. The taxes that the state collects from players and directly from gambling establishments replenish the treasury. Control of financial flows will be the primary reason for introducing taxes so that there is no outflow of large amounts of money from the country, and do not be deceived by the idea that the government is only concerned with protecting players; everything that brings profit to the treasury always comes first.

Taxes from gambling should be able to provide significant economic benefits for the country to be used for its citizens, because indeed this revenue should be used to fund various social programs, infrastructure, and other public services, but it is also important for us to ensure that the gambling regulations implemented are strict enough to protect the public from the potential dangers of gambling, such as addiction,  fraud and other financial problems that arise due to gambling, I think the government must balance between earning income and protecting its citizens, so what you are accusing at least does not happen, of course this can be done by implementing policies that ensure gambling is carried out responsibly, such as age limits, awareness campaigns, and providing a special place for rehabilitation from gambling addiction,  I think, important for the government can minimize the occurrence of corruption which will only benefit some parties from the implementation of the gambling tax, so that taxes derived from gambling can actually be more beneficial for the community.

I think you missed the point of what the regulators were saying. Yes, gambling winnings are taxed, but those taxes only apply to winnings from licensed casinos. When you pay taxes, you also need to declare where you won, so playing at an unlicensed casino can land you in trouble.

You're actually lucky regulators haven't investigated you yet. If the law is strictly enforced, betting on an unlicensed casino could lead to penalties. Simple rule: if gambling is taxed in your country, it means licensed casinos are regulated. So if you want to stay safe and avoid any legal trouble, stick to gambling at licensed casinos.

Government don't give a damn about where the business you do is registered. All they care about is if you made money within the country. Most companies that offer remote jobs are not registered in my country, but we still pay taxes to the government. If you investigate the tax system of the government, you will see that they are not supposed to collect tax from so much income we get because they don't support or even protect their citizens. That's why gamblers should only choose reputable casinos because the crypto gambling Industry is not properly regulated.

If you're talking about online casinos and the government has no jurisdiction, then there's really nothing they can do, but if its local, then its questionable and illegal. The government should have jurisdiction, and the platform is operating illegally. All I know is that no local company can operate without a government license; the government will always tax or find ways to tax every industry and company.
If the gambling platform is running illegally, then its your call not to play in such casino, you can always charge them in court if the government failed to take action if its a local gambling platform.

It's on you if you're going to bet or play in a casino that's is not regulated by your Government, your winnings would only go in vain.

If you're a gambler for a very long time, for sure you know the risk of playing in an unregulated casinos, compare to the regulated one. To solve your problem, why not just play on the regulated one to lessen the problem you're going to encounter in the future. And regarding about the taxation, I believe it's pretty normal especially most of the Government required tax especially to anything that generates a lot of money for them to get "benefits" on it not mentioning the Government are full of corrupt politicians.

The thing is the government wants to have that for fills their reserve of funds and used for developing the country. They need to take the taxes from the business and people who involved in gambling industry. So that will not surprise if the government ask the winners to pay taxes.

The regulator should help gamblers who win if they get a problem from the casino that don't want to pay them. But we don't know what is behind that because the scenario is the casino can bribe the corrupt officers to protect their business and if anyone wants to take the win money, the casino will not gives them. And the corrupt officers will not do something with that case. It depends on the country situation because if the officers cares with their citizen, they will help those who wins to solve their problem. That is just my guess.

Because the love of money. They actually like to get something from institutions even if there's no regulation implemented and once they are done milking off those casino and see a lot of bad effect also other negative things that already need to take action then this is when they implement those potential bans of casino. We see this many times happen and I don't get any surprise towards their taxation announcement since they somehow acknowledge the big money they can take from those casinos they are monitoring.

With those cases you just stated here better gamble only on casino which have solid license we can go after with them if there's certain issues happened. Also always remember that we should only deal with the amount we can afford to lose since everything in online doesn't have any assurance.

I get your point if this statement remains valid.
It is quite baffling when the government could ask for % out on bettors winnings and does not care how much you keep loosing. Why not them also ask for % at every lost so we would assume we are being taxed for Playing gamble as not taxed on basically winning.

Anyways, let me break the silence about casinos and being licenced. I think the government constitutes the commissions that authorizes the casinos issuing them with licenses for legal operations and any gambling house operating without obtaining its license is assumed to operate illegal.

Technically I believe there are government operatives accessible to internally supervise the casinos and they instructs the casinos not to cheat in their bet houses and also then the casinos adopted the moderations of bettors to gamble responsibly which we now enjoys today as warnings, creating awarenesses and the gambling therapist.

The reason why many gamblers are avoiding KYC on casinos is privacy right? If anyone now pass KYC and wins some jackpot, but the casino refuses to pay up, then you can call for help? I think is depends entirely on which country we are talking about, my government will eat you alive and pretend as if they are helping, the funny thing is casinos are directly taxed, but they wanted more thats why they come up with taxing the players too.

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This is crazy, normally casinos should be responsible for tax payments, not the gamblers, but the government likes benefitting out of the crowd, once they find out that too many people are into something they will want to introduce tax, they already did with crypto in my country.

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This is also why decentralized casinos will never work, they could have been the solution to all these nonsense.

I know this is a bitter pill 💊 to swallow but Sometimes taxation is used as a tool to deter and protect citizens from such vices because the government treasures it's human resource to remain in good health  and be productive.

So the fact that they are applying tax to gambling could mean this industry is regulated one way or another, and the best way to find this information is to see how brick and mortar casinos operate and the relationship they have with the government.

So whatever is going on here, just know the government has your best interests  :P

You're right the government are just after what they will benefits from it's citizens leaving the fact that they are supposed to provide the initial needs of the citizens as pertaining social amenities and other things as well, so for me I don't think any citizen of any country should pay taxation fees of any sorts to the government in the aspects of gambling, since they don't regulate gambling in so many countries I don't see a reason why the need to pay up tax should be brought up.

Of course, the government does not report on where it has spent the money from taxes paid by gamblers. But in general, it is clear that this improves the infrastructure in cities, roads and other things. But it would be wiser to send a quarter of these taxes to treat those who suffer from ludomania, so that the players do not completely ruin their lives. They cannot be left to their own devices, especially after their loved ones and society have turned away from them. It may even be necessary to resort to harsh methods to control their bank accounts and prohibit registration at all gambling establishments in the country. In any case, this is a deeper question than I am trying to reveal and there are many subtleties.

I doubt the government will invest a lot in that. Maybe they'll set up a few rehab centers for gambling addicts, but that’s probably it. They wouldn’t want to build too many because it looks bad...more rehab centers mean more gambling addiction, and the easiest way to address that is just banning gambling altogether. Plus, taxing gambling winnings is already one way to discourage people from going too deep. When they realize how much they're losing, it might help them see gambling as just a fun activity to do in moderation.

The reality is, if there are strict gambling regulations in a country, you can't really avoid paying taxes. Most accounts are KYC verified, and casinos are required to report winners to regulators for checks. If we don't pay, they’ll catch it, and we could get charged for evading taxes. The system’s built that way- they're smart about it, and if we want to keep gambling without hassle, we have to pay what's due.

Maybe I could have a different view about this because I know that when it comes to gambling winnings especially physical gambling, it doesn't give problem for winners to be credited. Except it is online casinos that could be a problem if they are not real but as to getting paid by physical gambling stores, I don't think they have such issue of payment to customers.

However, government don't need to only collect tax without taking care of the money for building infrastructure and grow the economy. Taxing isn't bad but it is what is done with the proceed of the collection that is the challenge.

Usually, a corrupt system will always be adamant to issues of complaints because institutions that will take care of regulation board could be biase to take up issues.

That question, only they know......!
countries, governments and illegal places are part of third parties, gambling, discos, miners, brothels and other illegal places, this has been going on for a long time from century to century and until now it is still illegal and taxes continue as they are now.

Indeed, in some countries the gambling industry is illegal and some is legal, we are not talking about legal, let's say countries where it is illegal, the fact is that the tax revenue that is paid to the government is more fixed over time and the largest number of industries is illegal, rather than legal ones, for another reason, even though the government does not play a role in controlling gambling directly, they do have a role in it, may not be publicly visible but they are in the gambling department, certainly a major role in those who have power in the country.

Just say in my country, gambling is illegal on the grounds that it violates religious morals, but taxes are still enforced.
For example:
 
The government takes the middle path, taxes are taken, online gambling can be accessed and played, it is seen in public as illegal to keep the anti-gambling public unrest, perhaps so.

In the same general terms, taxation is designed for institutions and individuals who have revenues of incomes that's why the poor and the jobless people are not taxed.
For the government taxing the house edge is okay because it's ideals a resource of incomes but what about the gamblers whose loosing possibilities is over 99%? I don't think it's necessary laying taxes on bettors because their one time winning could be their lucky day out of multiple looses that's not even boost enough to recover their losses.
That's purely extortion of the governments

At the first place the casino before makes a run in a business into the particular part of the country they need to show up their license because we know how does the gambling casino earned and of course the government like them because they are one of the biggest tax contributors now if you are wondering how to protect the citizens theres still a law to them like data privacy act and consumers act it depends on the country if im not mistaken theres a small claims can be in the law if the player cant pay the debt on the casino.Casino just have the service to operate but i guess still its user accountability of excessive gambling addiction

pay taxes on gambling winnings, pay taxes when trading crypto, when reporting losses or being cheated on the two cases above, the government seems not to want to bother, so here it can be seen that the government only wants its citizens to obey the taxes they make because as we know casinos and crypto they do not legalize but provide input for the country, where crypto and casinos provide many financial opportunities for the country and for owners and users can not move on the grounds of obeying the rules

5% tax rate is very fair considering what the tax rate in my country and for the house it's from their profits not the revenue right? Which is common because government collect tax from everything and that's how they generate revenue for their country to fund the war. :D

Even if the casino you're playing is not registered in your country still they have all the right to collect taxes from the players because you're gambling from that country but the only concern in they don't consider the loss when it comes to taxation which kind of bothers me, if they let the users to deduct taxes for their loss then it could save tons money.

Not recently, this has been happening since long time ago. It has been happening since many years ago. I read about the recent 5% tax in telecommunication, gaming, gambling, lotteries, and betting activities in Nigeria recently. 5% tax is good but this should be after calculating the overall profit and loss of the gambler.

The gambling site is not licensed. The first thing I check about a gambling site is to know if the gambling site is licensed or not. I can not gamble on unlicensed gambling sites.

Well, let's liken this to the recent developments after Binance p2p was banned in Nigeria, the federal government seeing they really can not stop Nigerians from doing crypto, decided to work with kucoin exchange to impose a 7 percent fee as tax on all the trade made by Nigerians, meanwhile, the government has not lifted the crypto ban In the country and subsequently, have not also started regulating crypto, yet they are imposing tax on crypto traders - this is very similar to what you are talking about.

But then, let me point out that on few occasions that I am aware, gamblers who won good amount from casino, and the casino refused to pay have taken the matter to court, and the court after investigating the issue, have most of the time ordered the casino to pay up the player or face some serious sactions.

Gambling is not regulated in the country thats for sure, but those who know their way around still can get good justice when a casino try to cheat them, but all the same, we should understand that most government of the world only care about one thing, and that is their pockets, all they are interested in is looking for means to earn and keep earning more and more money.

It seems fair if you’re winning. But the problem is they take taxes every time you win, even if you’re not really making a profit overall.
Like, if you gamble for a whole week, lose for six days, and win just one day, you still have to pay taxes on that win. It feels like a burden. But they’re the authority, and they always think they’re right.

I think it’s on us to pay, since they can’t collect if they don’t know we’re gambling. Like, if we’re using casinos that aren’t even in our country, and we can still access them, they really have no clue. But if we want to be law-abiding, we’ll pay willingly. But then, is that really the right thing to do?

Is that a valid reason? If the government really cares about gamblers and is afraid they will fall into gambling addiction. They just need to ask the casino to put in place some regulations like daily deposit limits, instead of taxing gamblers more. Most gamblers lose, they rarely win so it would be unfair if they lost 10 times but only won once and had to pay extra taxes.

I am not against the government taxing but clearly taxing gamblers is unfair and shows the greed of the government.


You are right, if they really want to tax gamblers then we have no way to fight them, they are still the ones who control this world and we cannot get rid of them.

Whether the casino the gamblers are using is licensed or not, the government doesn't really care about the gamblers, they only care about what they will get from gambling activities. It is now left for us gamblers to choose to protect ourselves by ourselves. A gambler who cares so much about his safety, knowing fully well that if he encounters any issue in the future, will not get any assurance from the government, should ensure he gambles only with casinos or other gambling platforms that have good reputation and positive reviews from other gamblers. The decision to settle with a particular casino should not only be because the casino is licensed.

With reputable casinos, gamblers can channel their grievances to the casinos which helps assure them of a fair treatment from the casinos even while still paying an unfair levy imposed on them by the government.

They may not know we are gambling and let's say we gamble on crypto casino so we could withdraw as crypto but when we want to convert those crypto into fiat ever then it will become headache cause all those funds came to our banks are recorded and reported to tax agencies and they might not even ask anything if the amount involved is small but if there's every big transaction coming to our bank then it might be flagged for review and by that time all the TXs in the account might come in for question.

It's absurd to even fathom the idea of taxing gamblers, like who does that, so are they taxing you only win you win your bet or they will also tax you when you lose your bet. If as a country you want to tax the bet companies based on the fact that their business is situated in your country hence the need to pay tax, then that's understandable but wanting to tax private individuals on their bet is something I really find amazing. So this is like taxing both bet company and the individual at the same time.

If a government refuse to check complains of consumers concerning a particular bet company, especially when there are cases of refusal to pay customers the money they've won, sighting that they don't have a control over the bet companies, then that's insensitivity on their own part as a government, as it's the responsibility of the government to checkmate this bet companies else the company will go rogue.

I don't know how casinos operate in your country but the place I'm from, casinos operate on high moral grounds. The regulated casinos that pays tax to government needs to satisfy the rules placed by the government, the largest complaint they get is not checking IDs properly for minors. They even provide pick up and drop off service to gamblers and transfer the money to the bank if they want. That's on legal ones. The illegal ones and the small gambling games too foucs on fairness and user experience as they are more closely linked to society.
There are ocassional complain from drunk gamblers but most of the time its delusional claims after loss.

I do not think there would be countries that will tax lost bet.

Let me make an example for you. If you are using a gambling site and you are losing $200, and then you win $100. Your winning will not be taxed until you win in total more than $200 that you have lost.

But above all I still do not like the fact that gambling is taxed, but most gamblers are not paying tax because they are winning small amount of money while most gambling are losing if their profit and loss are calculated. So government collecting tax from bettors is not as it is in the way we are thinking about it. Only those that won huge amount of money are targeted.

But nonetheless, I prefer those countries like Australia and Canada that do not tax gambling.

The same reason they started imposing on cryptocurrency when they never wanted it
The benefit.
They can't see a cake and not want their cut.
The thing is for the government to receive tax from a casino
Then it would be strictly regulated and the likelihood of them adhering to proper gambling regulations are high.

This is civilized behavior, to follow the laws and pay your taxes, but I assure you that no one will hesitate to use a guaranteed method to avoid paying taxes to the state. Especially since these solutions exist and are usually used by those who receive small amounts and avoid losing them in the form of taxes. Large amounts can also be split and sold directly as crypto on the black market. In this way, the person will avoid accountability for his activities from the authorities, will not have to pay taxes or bank transfer fees, and will sell the money at the black market price, which is more than the trading price. Don't you think these are not enough temptations for anyone to think about cheating the system?

It's grey area, they have the right to tax your winnings and they have the right to freeze your money too because you're gambling in unregulated casinos.

Make sure to use international exchange (no KYC P2P even better) over local exchange because government is easier to ask personal credentials from local exchange. Since the key is to avoid paying gambling tax, you need to report your gain from somewhere else, says side gigs or something like that. You still pay income tax, but at least it's cheaper than paying tax from gambling.

It's not just the government's duty to care for the addicts, the community and society where there cohabit also have a role to play in engaging compulsive gamblers to change for good. However, implementing taxes on casinos is as the result of funds generated in the business. Although, it's not being utilized in gambling legalized countries, but that's not enough reason to wait on them to act before helping problematic players.

Preferably, it should be a combined effort, the government help's in needed, thereby reducing the cost of caring for addicts, and also limit such urge from happening.

I have no problem with taxation on gambling businesses. They owe it to the government and the government in turn owes it to her citizens to ensure that the taxes are use for civil good. This is the premise on which I believe that there should be taxation on gambling businesses. Also just like the case in brasil, taxing gambling businesses also have other positive benefits too such as those illegal gambling businesses will move out of the country. Those illegal gambling businesses are the places that encourages underaged gambling. If we look at it another way, we'd see that the governemnt is using taxation as regulation and the indirect effect is that illegal gamling will reduce and in turn a decrease in gambling addiction.

Nobody can escape taxation; if you're living in a third-world country, expect to be taxed on everything you purchase and everything you do. By theory, the government has an obligation to its people to serve their interests, and if your government can't do that, then you have a corrupt government, and if you know that your government acts like that, then only play at casinos with a license and a good reputation, so you will not bother yourself by complaining to the government, which is futile to do.

Like you said, it can be good, it can be bad. It can be good in the sense that if they put taxation, they should also make a regulation that casinos have to be registered. I mean, they have to be a registered business that has a monthly income stream to pay tax, which means illegal casinos won't be taking advantage of small children, they won't be ripping people off, rigging the game, they will be forced to move. And at least people will be aware that,  such casino does not pay tax, they are hiding from government, means they are illegal so people go to the one that is legal.

Which means, if a casino that is registered and pays tax, withholds a gambler's huge win, probably because they didn't see it coming that someone was going to win huge, it can involve a court case, and it can actually be treated as a proper court case. Most times, this kind of case with gamblers and casinos are not being treated properly because the government says it is not a business they recognize or is not registered under them.

So now, if the taxation will lead to a casino registering themselves, it means such cases will reduce because you know it can be taken to court, you can be sued, that can be a good thing.

Then also bad, because this is a game people play for fun. If casinos have to increase their price and you know, restructure their system, the way that you barely win because they are paying tax, like the amount of win even on low stakes, become so low, it means people might withdraw from gambling to a point.

It might help people to reduce their addiction, but it might affect the gambling industry too. It might just affect the fun of sports betting and all of that. But I hope the method being put is not just for the benefit of the government but citizens are taken into consideration too.

If as far as you know every time you win you always pay taxes, but when you report a problem to your casino and the authorities refuse to provide assistance, don't you need to find out if you are being cheated all this time by the casino or if the authorities in your place are rotten? because as far as I know, if you have paid taxes, then the authorities will help you with various problems that you may face when gambling, because the role of the authorities is to regulate casinos that are under their jurisdiction, and therefore you pay taxes - if the authorities do not help you, then what is the point of you paying taxes to them.

One way they tax gamblers is during withdrawals, and the tax is based on a certain percentage of their withdrawals. Sometimes the casino takes the charge directly from the winning of the gambler. It may look small but cumulatively from all gamblers around the world, it becomes a huge amount of money. Now they give the government the specific amount agreed between them at a given time. It could be daily tax, monthly or yearly.

What is the essence of regulation if the government cannot speak for their citizens using the casino platform? Although if such a thing happens the casino refuses to pay gamblers their earned money then what the government can do is to prevent the casino from operating in the country. Meanwhile any money there will not be returned.

On this forum, some accusations of casino  not  paying players have been rectified and some cases are majorly the fault of the players and not the casino.
I believe that if any casino is licensed in a country, the right authority will assist the player to fight the casino if maybe the player have actually won a huge amount and the casino refuses to pay him but some online casino are operating without obtaining license from some country that there gateway is allowed.

Yes, this is how the gambling winnings are taxed. As long as you keep the winning amount in the casino and withdraw it to an online wallet, you do not need to pay the taxes in regions where gambling and crypto are not regulated. But as soon as you convert that crypto into your local currency, the money lands into your bank account and you have to play the tax on that money. So this can be called an "indirect tax". Secondly sometimes you may have to justify the authorities the source of that income if the amount converted into fiat is considerably high.
For example, I know people who had to face legal actions when they tell or disclose that this is crypto money or gambling money (and gambling was prohibited in the country).

It should be understood that the purpose of regulation of any industry for the state is primarily to replenish the treasury, not to protect citizens. Therefore, there is no sense in expecting the state authorities to deal with disputes between users and gambling sites. The state has neither money, nor time, nor people, nor desire to do it. So the protection of our interests even in regulated areas remains only in our hands.

In Italy we have taxation on gambling since many years.
All of these aspect have been always regulated, probably I think, since this Is the best way to collect money and taxes. Actually there Is a monopoli/platform that manage all gambling license.
I am not too much surprised that other governments are trying the same way... ::)

Your question is valid but by now it has become clear that the government is just after the money.
A lot of money is being flown out into gambling. The government is trying to reap out money from whatever they can.
You're right that a lot of gambling accusations are being raised but there are no stringent measures being taken against them.
If the government is taking money from our profits then they should also help us when we are in trouble.
It should be a two way thing but it isn't and that will only change when we raise our voices and ask for our rights.

Maybe I'm wrong, but from what I've seen, in most countries when they charge taxes on gambling, they are counting on charging taxes to casinos that have a license in that country and know that the casino has a physical office in that country. Because it's not just the player who pays taxes. The casino will also pay taxes, the casino employees will also pay taxes and the casino will have to respect the country's labor laws. Now, about this issue of someone winning and the casino refusing to pay and that person having no way to complain to any government. This happens when the casino does not have a physical office in the player's country.

According to the rules of every country, when someone crosses 18 years, he becomes an adult and then he can make any decisions he wants.  So if gambling is legal in a country it is only natural that the government would demand a tax on it. If gambling is legal in your country, your government may charge a VAT that is fair and you must pay it. Since you are old enough to take responsibility for your own decisions.  In this case you cannot blame the government.  Because you are making your own decisions. The government will not force you if you do not gamble and neither the government nor anyone else will stop you if you gamble

When someone wins gambling and wins some money it is considered as his income. and every adult citizen of a country must pay income tax to the government for various development of the country. so I agree with you that tax should be paid on gambling winnings as well. In countries where gambling is not legal like in my country gambling is illegal so no one can gamble openly in my country. And if someone here gambles secretly and can win then they justify that money by showing some other source of income. And even then the government must pay tax from that money. so of course taxing gambling money is fair I agree with your statement

Most of the third word country have the same issues like you have facing on your country suppose in the third world countries there the corruption are in the every where and in those casinos who are not paying the winner I am sure if you do little research then maybe you will find some of the ruler party agent or relatives are the owner of that casino and that is why they are not taking any steps against them. And if that casino is an online casino and that is operate from another country then there is nothing to do for you government.
And in the last I want to say that at least you are lucky that you guys are able to play on the casino and government authorities don't throw you in the jail because I saw some people are being arrested in my country because of playing gambling in the casinos and as my country regulate the gambling by illegal activities.

First of all, which country do you mean, and the country that is most disadvantaged is the country that does not legalize gambling activities, which do not benefit the country, and only harm the country and its people, because there will be a lot of illegal gambling operating and it is very difficult to eradicate.

Most taxes are unfair, so if you're asking why pay them, the answer is we shouldn't, but when you don't, you should be ready to face the consequences.

In case of gambling profits you can always use non-compliant casinos. I mean the ones that don't do KYC, where you can deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies and then directly buy goods and services.

The example OP gave can be compared to asking taxes from cryptocurrencies when it's illegal for you to start a crypto business, so the government is making it hard for you to make profit, but when you do it wants its share, because you had gains and gains are taxed, even if they come from something the governent doesn't recognize and legitimize.

When it comes to regulations, government cannot regulate and be in everywhere to ensure all other things concerning gambling were well regulated, but as for the ones they can take hold of, they will have to ensure regulating such in most regards, we cant challenge government to some extent because they will always have the upper edge when it comes to cases like this, we are to only pay tax in other not to invite for their trouble which may affect us from gambling or the platform from existing.

That is just the way things are, in theory you should report any income you get no matter how small, or at least that is the case where I live, so even if you received a small cash gift from one of your family members, this is money that should be reported to your tax authorities, which is completely crazy I know, but that is the way the law is written, then it is obvious that politicians only care about extracting the most resources they can out of you, without offering you services in return according to the amount you pay.

And I am actually thinking, what exactly are we paying the tax for if they can not atleast, protect gamblers and make the gambling industry fair to both the gamblers and the casinos?
Road users pay tax, and their money is supposed to be used to fix roads to make sure the roads are good for cars and other automobiles, we pay for electricity and the money is supposed to be used for power generation to ensure we continue to enjoy light 💡, I can go on and on.

The government can be taxing both gamblers and casinos and yet, give the excuss that they can't be everywhere, how come they can be everywhere to collect money, but can't be everywhere to regulate the system and make sure there is always peace between gamblers and casinos?

When casino refuse to pay you and you didn't commit any irregularities that justify the punishment that you're getting, you should take the casino to court and not the authorities because the authorities can't always help you but the court can. Some countries you can take them to the authorities which then file the reports to the court for you but if you know how to do it yourself, just do it. The court will ask the casino to fulfil their promises after doing their investigations into the case. I don't see a problem with paying my taxes, as a good citizen of my country after making a profits, I'm obligated to give to the government their share that they'll use in taking care of things that I'm going to enjoy as a citizen of the country. The government don't have to regulate gambling to tax them because they're a business that are making revenue and should contribute to the development of the country through tax payments.

You seem extremely mistaken if you think that governments do not regulate gambling - they absolutely do and for good reason. Gambling had been used throughout history by criminal elements to launder money, because it is an environment where people can come in with loose cash and have it cleaned by trading it for casino chips. They are notorious for this activity and it drew a lot of attention from law enforcement, so they are not heavily monitored. There are also plenty of laws around gambling, who can do it, where it can be done, even if they are a bit looser on where gambling can be advertised these days. Governments are also reactive, so if casinos get too greedy or push the boundaries, there is often push back and law changes to tighten it back up again.

I'm not sure which of the country you are talking about but recently the Nigerian government are in move to tax bettors and I'm sure that the Nigerian government has a regulation in place for casino. There is a regulatory board that licensed casino and betting companied and code of conduct regarding casino but what I don't really support is the taxing of bettors. This government is so useless that they don't even care about an average person but there pocket yet do little for the citizens.

The government see that youths are making money from gambling and I don't even blame the government for that but the people who are winning and can't keep it to their self, brag on social media just for validation and the govern government see the money as a way to get more from citizens. If indeed they are paying tax and all others things, I'm sure they will keep the winnings from online so government doesn't have to take their cut from the winnings.

It may also depend on the country you are from. Not all countries pay tax on gambling winnings, atleast maybe not direct tax. I don't see any reason a government should take taxes for gambling since this is actually a game of luck. The companies can get taxed yes but I don't see any reason players should be taxed on winnings.

I think the OP who brought about this topic is from my country. From my little knowledge, I don't think gambling is 100 percent legalized in the sight of the country's law and even if it was, there have no been any working policies set aside to regulate those law gambling. So why will taxes be imposed on people when the government in itself isn't taking that responsibility of properly regulating them.

Depends on the government. Maybe some doesn't regulate it and it is indeed wrong if they still tax it but we shouldn't agree on that. We don't need to be afraid because we are on the right track. There must be some organization where we can report these types of anomalies. Those who don't protect the gamblers in their troubles with the casino must be a definition of being corrupt and also maybe the casino pays them more money? Sometimes the problem is also in the bettors.

There is what we called as license provider and they must be separated from the governments, so it is true when the governments are saying that the casino is not licensed by them. Those gamblers who have in trouble with the casino should go directly to the license provider of that casino. Other than that, there are also gambling authorities that we can approach. There is also this forum, if we don't know where to approach those two entities I said earlier.

This! But this seems only applicable if the amounts involved are pretty huge, as we know that hiring a lawyer isn't also cheap. Not only a big amount of money is needed but also a huge patience, since this takes time to get processed. Once successful, we can say that it was still very worth it.

Why should we be undermining government ability to checkmates Gambling activities for the purpose of resolving and monitoring the activities of the various casino's that are found within their Jurisdiction most especially those that have received licence from those government, if the government can take tax, and also issues licensing to those companies, then it should be a thing of regulatory compliance for them to perform such responsibility.


Although the major interest of those government agency is the money their are generating from those casinos in form of bets winning tax and also licence issuance which come with a big cost and the government won't want to joke with such money, that is the reason for tite cryptocurrency casino regulations around the world today.

It's a form of income; that's why it's taxed; it has nothing to do with it being a game of probabilities. I'm not sure if what the OP claimed is valid for all casinos; most cryptocurrency ones are licensed in countries that are tax evasion paradises, such as Curracao or the Cayman Islands. Thus, I find a hard time believing that any of the two parties are going to be taxed; this doesn't apply in national/local casinos; whatever they're called, though, may even deduct the tax from your winnings immediately.

It's the same old thing... it depends, it's easy to say the casino doesn't pay, it's also easy to say 5% but in some places they charge up to 60% of the winnings, besides as in other countries it's 0%.

As for them paying, if a casino operates in your jurisdiction you can sue, the issue is how much money you won and how much a lawyer charges you, the government has nothing to do with the issue of: "they paid you; yes, no", the government should allow the judicial status to apply.

It must be a friendly country to gambling, because where I live the thieves from the government are going to charge 15% on prizes won by gamblers at betting apps. Of course they just want to grab money, without giving any assistance or support in any issues faced by gamblers. After all they are just going to tell gamblers to play responsively and that they are playing at their own risk. All this talk about regulations is bullshit. It's just an excuse to extort money from businesses and gamblers to fulfill the government's pockets.

This industry was really good in the beginning, when no one cared about regulations. Now if you want to gamble you have to get concerned about losing money to the government besides losing money to the casino. Harsh truth is that in the end both of them profit, while you lose...

Moreover, where must the government be going to apply the funds they are raising through betting taxation?

Yeah, some cases are the fault of the gamblers who accuse the casino wrongly, while in some cases the casino is at fault as they don't fine it conducive to paying out winning all the time. Let's use 1Xbit, the known scam casino in this forum.



Most of the casinos are actually licensed in most countries, but the players might still not get justice for whatever wrong they receive from the casino because they always don't know the right way to follow; they complain everywhere online rather than filing a proper suit with the casino.

That is why the government must be strictly when they want to gets taxes from all business in their country and makes sure that no problem will occurs. The citizens will follows the rules and if they can see that their government is honest and clean from corruption, they will no doubt with their government. The big money from taxes is really temptations for anyone especially for those who are in the government because they can make a secret deal with many corrupt officers who commit that. And this also a big and hard work from the clean government to make sure they can works as the plan. If the government can stay away from the corruption, they can use the taxes for many things and that means, the development in their country will be better.

Government in general doesn't really care about the people though, they only care in implementing taxations and other things that could either generate them money or controlling the people.
I think most governments all over the world are taking advantage of the casinos and all gambling firms already. I always thought that imposing tax towards the casino wouldn't be enough, so what you have said is the perfect example that government/authorities would always find a way to milk money from the people. Not surprising at all lol.

Yes they usually only care when something they are dealing with has the potential to benefit them in any scenario but that doesn't mean they want to deal with the various problems experienced by someone like a gambler, and of course in general it can be said that it is unfair to society, and maybe that's why most people are reluctant to obey the rules implemented by the government. Pretending to be at the forefront but when there is a problem they disappear as if they don't want to interfere with the problem that occurs and even when you tell the government in the hope that they can solve the problem you are experiencing you will find a situation where the government asks for some money as a fee if your problem is to be solved.

The government should starts to more cares to their people so they can use money from the tax to develop their country. Not to mention for the corrupt government officials who use that money from tax for their own. That makes their people can not see the development because no money distribute to solve the problem that the government face. It never enough to imposing tax to all business not just for the casino but to all businesses if that is only for the corrupt government because the money will not be given to the country but for them. But if the government can use the money from tax to the developing of their country, that will gives the opportunity to have a better conditions.

Did you read the OP? Why should someone be using a site that does not have a license that is not able to pay a gambler the money he won. We should use a license gambling site

The government are not taking advantage of the casino. All businesses must pay tax. But it is true that gamblers should not pay gambling tax because they can also lose the money and the government will not pay them anything. But how many gamblers are truly paying the tax? Most gamblers are paying nothing.

Then do the obvious, change the laws!
Why do people keep complaining and generalizing like this the absolute truth?

Dutch court rules Entain and Flutter must return player losses (https://next.io/news/regulation/dutch-court-rules-entain-flutter-return-player-losses/)
1xBet group declared bankrupt by Dutch Supreme Court (https://arbusers.com/1xbet-group-declared-bankrupt-by-dutch-supreme-court-20th-january-2023-t8985/)
Unibet must refund € 676,225 to Dutch player (https://gamblingclub.be/en/unibet-must-refund-676225-to-dutch-player/)
Online gambler wins court case to claim £1.7m prize after Betfred refused to pay (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/07/online-gambler-wins-court-case-to-claim-17m-prize-after-betfred-refused-to-pay)

and I could post hundreds of cases, not to mention the others that don't make it in the news because the sums are too small for an article.
Stop using unregistered and unlicensed casinos that have no legal basis to operate in the country first!


Simple, don't play in an unregulated casino, every single country has a list of licensed operators, so stick with them and keep your money safe, if you see a casino getting banned in a country and you use a VPN to access it only to lose funds in a scam then who would be to blame, the government?

Yes, many players pay taxes only when playing in licensed legal casinos. In this case, such casinos act as tax agents. Casinos independently withhold income tax from the winnings of players (individuals). Thus, the taxpayer (individual) does not have to pay anything to the budget themselves (the casino should take care of this). This system seems reasonable to me.

If we are talking about a casino (or a bookmaker's office) that is not legal in a certain country, then players, as a rule, do not pay taxes on their winnings. At the same time, the state does not protect the interests of the player in any way (if they are violated).

Personally, I am a supporter of paying taxes and fees (since they are usually used by governments for useful purposes, for example, for purposes related to the social protection of the population).

They might act that way, but there’s usually a threshold, mostly for big wins. For smaller wins, it’s generally up to the players to report them. But here’s the catch, casinos still report those winnings too, so players really don’t have much choice but to declare, since it’s all on record anyway.

The government's concern also stops at the level of benefits, which means that as long as the people create benefits that the government can benefit from, they will take care of the people in a special way, just like the case of collecting taxes from gambling, the government is seeing the unshared pie, they will deliberately find ways to cut more of the pie for themselves. And there is no opposition here when the casino, the government and the people are all people who calculate the benefits, they know this cake is not easy to eat and need to give it to the government when the boundary of violating the law is easily constituted.

To be honest government of any country does not follow all the sectors, they follow the sectors which are doing very well and making a lot of money. The government does not want to participate where the government does not have a profit share. You may know that crypto is not legal in many countries because the government does not get any direct profit from crypto. Gambling and casino platforms are one of the largest and fastest growing industries. But here the government does not get any kind of revenue tax due to which gambling and casinos are not free in many countries. However, the government gets a lot of profit through licensing, which is why it has been released by the government in some countries.

Some countries are not because they don't get a definite profit share,
because Gambling is a very sensitive industry, and this also depends on how the norms are in each country.

Some countries with a Muslim majority will condemn when gambling is legalized, so the government bans gambling.
But maybe some gambling can be circulated because it is illegal and of course there are some people who pass it.

Now the sectors that generate a lot of taxes for the government are cryptocurrencies, although some legality is limited,
but the government still gets income taxes from partners who already manage crypto.

It may vary depending on each country's regulation and implementation, but majority of any country's governments are mostly after the benefits they'll be getting to gambling platforms and casinos. One of the reasons why countries allow casinos to run is mainly because of how much they provide and offer to the economics of the country. This is also why taxation on each casinos and it's gamblers are too high especially when the player have won the jackpot.

There are also a lot of factors that are taken into as there are countries that ban gambling due to its nature and its reputation. Just as you've mentioned, norms, religion and nationality are considered when they've decided to ban gambling even if it can provide a lot when it comes profit.

I feel that the reason why some of those players end up doing  nothing is that they consider the amount of money they will spend to file a case against the casino and also the amount that they have won. If the amount that was won is small, they can just easily let go, but it's very wrong that a country will licence a casino and wouldn't appoint a department to handle such cases.

Regarding taxes that are too high, there has actually been an audit from the government and it is a standard tax that has been charged.
If it is indeed unnatural and too big, then the casino gambling regulation can be questioned, whether it has received an audit from the local government or not, because many rogue casino individuals use taxes as a way to take greater profits from gamblers.

It's just about the regulation and legality of the casino in the country, if some injustice arises and is detrimental to the player and obviously there are a lot of deductions and things like that or it could be that the account is frozen, you can still report to the designated party so that the casino gets a reprimand.

But if the casino is not registered and is included in the illegal casino, then there is no way anymore and it is indeed a banned casino.

What I want to say is that reality is not as ideal as the law is enforced. The authorities impose taxes on gambling companies to allow them to operate and grant them licenses, which is a logical equation. In return, they require them to provide them with data on the financial activity of their citizens upon request so that they can track what they are doing. Of course, the reason for this is not primarily to protect users, since the authorities will rarely be able to intervene if a problem arises between the casino and the user, but to track their financial activities and impose taxes accordingly. In this case, citizens will always try to find any way to evade these taxes, including using unlicensed platforms or transferring assets through black market transfers.

Yes, if the casino is operating without a license in that country, nothing can be done when the player is scammed or fall victim of frozen account but if it's a licensed casino, there's always a way to report but I think it can be a bit expensive. That's why I am as saying that if the government can just appoint some individuals that can easily handle these kind situation without a serious charge.

But can't that gambler who is scammed by the illegal operating casino tell the authorities that this casino is operating illegally in the country and an action should be taken against them. Even if they are scammed by an online gambling casino that is operating with permission from a country that has not allowed that casino or the license to operate is not obtain, the law enforcement agencies has the tools to dig down the casino owners and held them accountable and responsible. In a nut shell, everything can happen if the government is serious in taking the action on the illegal operated casinos.

Yes it can be handled by the government if they really want to but there are usually some conditions too that must be met. If maybe a player lose just $500 or $1k, nothing might be done, else he might even spend more than that amount fighting the case.

Imposing tax on casinos is not something bad if you ask me. As long as the casino is offering service to the citizens of that country, they need to remit tax to them. It's the government's right to ask for a way to return a little of what they have taken from the economy back to them. 
 
The only place I'm not too happy with them is taxing the gamblers, as they don't compensate anyone for their losses. As such, they should not disturb them for the little that they win since that winning can't even be enough to cover up what they have spent in the casino before that time.

The state will be interested in working with legal gambling providers, as this will in the long term give more taxes and more control in the industry, but it is more profitable to fight and liquidate the semi-legal ones, as this can damage the reputation of the former. At first, there is always an imbalance when the state gets involved in controlling an industry that is new to it.

It's sad some Gamblers have to experience such situations where they don't get enough protection from the government in situations where they need it the most against the gambling house only to get tasked, this still narrows down to the fact they gambling is gradually not seen as a hobby anymore or something that is done for fun alone, gambling is now something they see as a job opportunity and it saddens me that for some countries that are unable to provide adequate job for their citizens, they still find it okay to task gamblers who are trying to make ends meet from a "hobby", it will be better if the casinos alone are been tasked because they make the bulk of money and not the gamblers.

You are right about what happen to the reality because we can see that many government officers imposing the casino and other business but they use the money for their own without think about how their country can develop better with that tax. And if the government can be at citizens side, they will trying to help their citizens once they have a problem with the bad casino. But yes, in this matters government is not intervene the problem when its arises between the casino and the user and let the user search for their own way to solve the problem. That makes citizens don't want to pay tax because they thinks that the money will be used by the corrupt government officers so they will hide their money and just report what happens to them.

Yes, that is the most appropriate reason why the majority of gamblers do not obey the tax regulations set by the government, on the other hand I understand that even if the government is wise in this matter in the sense that it is willing and able to overcome every problem that gamblers have with casinos, there will definitely always be some gamblers who do not obey the rules which most likely will be done by gamblers who are really chasing victory and do not want part of their winnings to be given to anyone for anything, or it could be as you said due to thoughts and concerns that the tax money is not entirely for the benefit of the state but rather to be used as a place for officials to commit corruption.

Back to the initial discussion that everything should look balanced, in the sense of mutual benefit in terms of money and also mutual benefit in terms of security and comfort for gamblers in carrying out their gambling habits.

I'm sorry, but are you implying that the government should assist citizens having issues with casinos? This is completely unreasonable, not only due to the casinos being registered in tax paradises such as Curacao or Cayman Islands (even those that are regulated and have tax deducted from your earnings isn't based in your country of residence), but mostly because it's an unreasonable and unfeasible request. What are you expecting—the government to intervene with the random casino that isn't approving your withdrawal?

Taxes are necessary for the country; however, I'm not keen on losing a reasonable cut of my earnings in a country where our tax money isn't being put into actual use.

The issue with unlicensed casinos is that once the government starts enforcing strict laws, these casinos usually won’t comply. They know they'd have to pay penalties first for operating without a license before even starting the legit licensing process. Given the strict requirements they’d need to meet, it’s often not worth it, especially for smaller casinos. Many of them just opt for licenses from lenient providers that don’t enforce effective regulation, which doesn’t really help them when stricter oversight step in.

In your answers you always link taxes on gamblers' winnings to the development of the country. Theoretically this is true. But we should not forget the responsibility of the state authorities to protect citizens if a problem occurs with a licensed gambling platform. I mentioned in my previous comment that the authorities have legal powers to impose taxes on all financial activities of citizens and this is considered legitimate. But citizens know that these taxes are deducted without the authorities providing them with protection and support for the safe use of these platforms. I cannot remember exactly, but I do not remember that the authorities of any country (except for a few countries) have intervened to protect their citizens against scam schemes with any platform, including licensed ones.

It's simply a means of extortion, the government has been doing this in so many ways. There's absolutely no reason why the government should demand for taxes in gambling winnings because they have no business with it, just like you said they don't regulate it. If they can at least try to monitor the age limit and try to make sure that no one under the age of 18 is actively involved in it then paying taxes might be worth putting into consideration. This is something they can't demand for, there are other sectors of businesses that they get taxes from and the citizens have no idea on what they are using all the money for.

Yes, there will be additional fees that need to be paid to handle such cases.
But if the player is only deceived with a small amount then there is nothing to do, but if many people feel deceived then it is necessary to do.

The government also has an obligation to eradicate these illegal casinos that harm many people as well as they do not pay taxes to the government by making their servers hidden in other countries that legalize gambling.

Even illegal online casinos like this have become a polemic that has never been finished in my country,
because there are several individuals who protect with great rewards.

Honestly, this new tax policy just feels unfair to me for many reasons . They are going to take a cut from both the winnings and the betting houses, but when there’s an issue for example like a casino refusing to pay out a big win then suddenly the government wants no part of it for no reason. They will say that the casino isn’t licensed here or that we cannot handle those cases. So they are cool to collect the money but won’t lift a finger to protect gamblers when things go wrong.
If they want to take a percentage of the winnings let’s say it’s fine, but at least offer some protection in return. The whole system just feels like it's set up to make gains for them, with no real concern for the people who are actually putting money down.

However, As a gambler in a place where gambling isnot regulated well, I have never anything to think much about taxes on my winnings. Here, it's more about finding a reliable betting online crypto casino that pays out without issues or complicates the KYC process. I’ve always been used to just playing, winning or losing, and not dealing with any tax cuts on my winnings. It’s been direct , no one to answer to, no forms to fill out.

But now, seeing other countries taxing both the casinos and the players, it makes me think about how things might change. The idea of paying taxes on every win sounds discouraging, especially when there is no guarantee of protection if the casino decide to not pay players.

That is normal if some citizens doing that thing because they thinks that is their money that they can win from gambling so they  can enjoy that money without reporting to the government. Maybe it needs explanation to that people so they will understand that the taxes is for developing their country better than before.

If there taxes that needed to be paid, we can follow the rules to avoids any problem. But the government must realize that some of their citizens needs their help to solve their problem so the citizens will not thinks negatively to their government.

If they can make agreement with the casino regulator, that can be done but that will depends on how good the government to helps their gamblers. The government with the regulator can investigates the case and will know what is the real problem. But we know that the government won't be bothers to do that and only wait for the taxes comes from people.

We as a gambler and citizens can only follow the regulation. If the country needs us to pay the tax, we can pay it especially if we win. But if we lose, we can explains the real situation and conditions.

Speaking about the responsibility of the state authorities to protect citizen maybe will not be the same between country that allows and prohibit gambling. Even if the country allow gambling, that doesn't mean they will protect and help their citizens to solve the problem. That will be worst if the country have so many corrupt people who only care with the money from tax that they can use. I can not remember either but I think if they cares with their citizens, they will help to solve it. Maybe in the future, we will see the government publish the news about they helps their citizens to protect and solve the problem from the scam casinos but that will needs work together from many parties and not from the government and the regulator.

When a government is very aggressive about taxing casinos and the winnings from gamblers, it’s expected that they will also regulate the gambling industry strictly. Your point about there being no guarantee of protection from regulators isn’t entirely accurate. The reality is that many gamblers with problems at casinos often don’t pursue legal action because it can be costly and a waste of time for them. For regulators to take action, there needs to be a complaint against a specific casino. If we stay silent about issues, they won’t be aware of them.

It is not necessarily because of corruption in the state, but because the state does not have the tools to do so. The judicial system is backward and unable to intervene to protect citizens, especially with crypto-based casinos when crypto is not recognized by the authorities. The authorities impose taxes on citizens on the basis that they obtained their money from gambling and do not care about the type of gambling. This factor encourages gamblers to avoid declaring their income and even trying to manipulate the system. Most of them sell their balances for cash on the black market, peer to peer. In my country, for example, the authorities impose a 25% tax on all income from gambling and entertainment competitions, but I do not remember them ever intervening to help any of their citizens who were victims of scam schemes.

Leaving aside the fact that you are wrong - gambling is a heavily regulated industry in most countries, it is also not true that every country taxes gambling winnings. If you look at the UK for example, any winnings you might get there will not be taxed at all. They tax the gambling companies and that is where the government takes it's cut, which seems like the fairest way to do it really. It is rather crazy that you only get to take a portion of your winnings in somewhere like America because the state and federal government stick their claws in. Be careful about making sweeping generalizations because there are plenty of countries out there which strike a much better balance than you might find in your local jurisdiction.

I don't find it necessary, how is it the government's job to assist you dealing with a casino based in the other side of the world? On top of that, we've seen many cases of gamblers abusing bonuses, loopholes and the TOS only to be stopped during the withdrawal process because the system has flagged them as suspicious activity. Imagine each one of them complaining that they've been scammed, when in reality, it's the other way around.

Gambling taxation usually occurs during the withdrawal process, the system automatically deducts a percentage of your earnings, you're not taxed if you don't withdraw, or if you ultimately lose your balance.

Casinos feel secure in their operations when they have proof to back up their actions. No government will go after a casino just for enforcing its terms of service, as long as they follow the country’s regulations. The government has more on its plate than just casinos, so it wouldn’t make sense to spend too much time on this issue when there are easier ways to regulate them effectively.

You’re right, there are plenty of people out there who abuse the system. They throw around scam accusations but often can’t provide solid evidence when asked. We see this happening in our own forum too.

Not every win gets charged with withholding tax; there’s a ceiling for that....

For smaller wins. It’s the gambler’s job to report those to the tax agency, like the IRS in the U.S.

In the US gambling is highly regulated especially the lottery. In the lottery it’s something like 40-50% or more which is nuts but it’s true. The good thing is if you win you’re still getting a crap ton of money regardless lol. Gambling tax together as a phrase doesn’t sound good at all haha

It would be unreasonable to even think about it, and wouldn't be possible if the casinos were even based on our country of residence. Imagine how many reports they'd receive if this hypothetical scenario were true. This is never going to happen, and it's actually in the best interest of both parties.
That's true, but perhaps it varies from country to country of residence. Here in Greece, you're automatically taxed, provided that you use regulated casinos and not cryptocurrency ones, from any amount of €100 to €500 with 15%, and from €500 and upwards, 20%.