Get the Best Idea of the Dominican Republic gambling laws
The Dominican Republic is in the Caribbean. Although it is not considered a traditional offshore jurisdiction and a tax haven, it offers benefits for international companies. The country’s tax regime is based on the principle of territoriality and is very attractive to a wide range of companies.
Little history
The gaming industry in the Dominican Republic is closely related to the tourism industry, which turned the country into a tourist center with a real casino.
The availability of the games in the country attracted around 4.4 million tourists in 2009. There are currently more than 60 land casinos in the Dominican Republic.
On the other hand, the country’s domestic market involves more than 24,000 lottery agents and a variety of electronic lotteries introduced in 2008.
Sports betting are another playing field that demonstrates its strong and competitive positions in the Dominican Republic.
Previous law regarding the gambling
The gaming industry in the Dominican Republic was significantly affected by the tax law passed in 2011 as a result of international commitments to the IMF. The law is aimed at controlling the expansion of the gaming market and the imposition of restrictions on new sports betting and lottery agencies.
The Casino Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Dominican Republic had the right to regulate and guide all operations of gambling service providers.
This entity is authorized to grant licenses for sportsbooks and gaming in Dominican Republic and the permits to issue the installation, transfer, import, review and maintenance of slot machines.
If the slots are operated by the betting agencies, their activity is also regulated by the Sports, Physical Education and Recreation Department in conjunction with the Casino Department. Lottery operations are governed by the National Lottery, a regulatory body, which is also responsible for issuing special licenses for interactive lotteries.
The main source for the regulation of gambling in the Dominican Republic is Law 351, which dates back to 1964.
Under this Dominican Republic gambling laws, casino games were considered as a source of tourist attraction to the country. Other important modifications were introduced to Law 351 of 1965, 1998 and 2006.
Originally the authorities of the Dominican Republic are entitled to a license only for online sports betting services. However, there are new licenses of this type were issued to betting companies that operate from outside the country since 1996.
Final words
Following the latest trends in the liberalization of the attitude towards the online gambling legal in Dominican Republic in 2006, the Ministry of Finance of the Dominican Republic was granted the right to issue licenses for gambling, including electronic gambling centers , in accordance with paragraph 29 of article 3 of Law 494-06.
Law (Law) 139-11 includes changes in the general tax system and, in particular, it concerns:
- increase in the annual income tax of companies;
- Changes in the tax system that applies to casinos and other establishments that offers gambling services.