Tigre de Cristal casino facing possible tax hikes, curbs in China’s mass market gamblers

The operator of the Tigre de Cristal casino in Russia’s far east is warning investors of the potential fallout of that country’s plans to dramatically hike gambling taxes.

On Friday (10), Russia’s parliament will hold its second reading of draft law No. 1037957-6, which could lead to Russian-licensed gambling operators’ tax obligations doubling by January 1, 2018. The government has said it plans to gradually hike gambling taxes to 10x their current rates by 2020.

Russia’s land-based casino operators don’t pay taxes on their gaming revenue, instead paying fixed fees based on the number of gaming positions in their establishments. These fees vary according to the whims of local governments in which Russia’s few designated gaming zones are located.

At present, Russian-licensed casinos must pay an annual rate of between RUB 25k-125k per gaming table, and between RUB 1,500-7,500 for each slot machine. The draft law would see these ranges hiked to between RUB 50k-250k per table and between RUB 3k-15k per slot.