Cyprus-licensed online sports betting operators appear to be dodging their tax obligations, according to the country’s national auditor.

On Tuesday, the Audit Office of the Republic of Cyprus issued a report that identified numerous question marks involving the country’s National Betting Authority (NBA) and its six retail betting and nine online betting licensees.

Among the issues flagged by the auditor were the NBA issuing and renewing licenses without the recipient having provided the necessary documentation. The NBA also failed to require certain licensees to increase their bank guarantees to the stipulated 10% of annual turnover to keep pace with increases in the licensees’ turnover.

More alarming, the auditor claimed that two ‘foreign’ betting operators with total betting income of €75m in 2017 had registered operations in Cyprus but hadn’t registered with the local tax office and thus weren’t submitting annual tax returns.