Casino-run events need at least 80% foreign participants. Tax and gaming-table fee exemptions require a prize pool above ₾3 million, while the Georgian Patriarchate plans to discuss the law on 30 October.
Georgia’s parliament passed legislation for casino-run international gambling tournaments at its final reading, by 73 votes to 5. A qualifying tournament must have a prize pool guaranteed in advance by its organiser, and at least 80% of participants must be foreign nationals. Foreign participants and organisers receive the law’s tax and gaming-table fee exemptions only when the prize pool exceeds ₾3 million.
Lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party introduced the package. Expedited consideration began on 27 October; during two days of debate, lawmakers raised the required foreign share from 70% in the initial draft to 80%. They also removed a proposed ₾150,000 fine for organising a tournament without authorisation.
The prize-pool threshold affects two different payments. Income that a foreign national earns by participating in a qualifying tournament is tax-free only if its prize pool exceeds ₾3 million. An organiser avoids the gaming-business fee for a club table only if the pool exceeds that amount and the table is used exclusively for the tournament. Taxable individual tournament income is subject to a 20% tax, except for the qualifying foreign-national exemption. The normal table fee applies if the prize pool does not exceed ₾3 million or the table is not used exclusively for the tournament.
In its 27 October account of the earlier proposal, Georgia Today put the existing quarterly gaming-business fee at ₾4,000–₾14,000 per club table. The approved law permits a casino to organise a tournament either at a site operating under a casino permit or outside that site. Breaching the conditions of a tournament permit carries a ₾50,000 fine.
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Analysis
Shota Berekashvili, chair of parliament’s Economic Policy Committee, said the tournaments could bring visitors and tourism activity during the off-season. OC Media also described objections to the legislation: the Georgian Patriarchate and the Public Defender questioned the move to encourage such events.
Archpriest Andria Jaghmaidze, head of the Patriarchate’s Public Relations Service, said the bill surprised the institution. He said the Patriarchate had initiated and helped develop gambling regulations in a process that began in 2017. For Georgia did not support this bill; its representative Giorgi Sharashidze accused Georgian Dream of trying to turn the country into a gambling destination and challenged its tourism argument. During the second reading, People’s Power representatives questioned the fast-tracked procedure, while Eka Sepashvili warned that the law might popularise gambling.
Parliament has completed the final reading. Metropolitan Anton of Vani and Baghdati said the Patriarchate plans to meet on 30 October to discuss the law before stating its final position.
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