iGaming License in Georgia 2026: Costs, Taxes and Rules

If you plan to offer remote (hereinafter “online”) casino, slots or sports betting services to foreign players from Georgia, as of 2026 there is an international permit for exactly that, which the gambling industry refers to as an “iGaming license.” In this guide, you will find out what fee companies must pay to obtain an online casino permit in Georgia, how such activity is taxed, how long the process takes and where you may run into difficulties.

Amendments of 25 June 2026 to the Law of Georgia “On Organizing Lotteries, Games of Chance and Other Prize Games” (hereinafter, the Gaming Law) introduced three new permits: international organization of casino games, slot machine games and totalizator (sports betting) games. All three are issued without a land-based venue, carry an annual fee of GEL 100,000 and are exempt from the gambling business levy.

The key restriction: an international permit prohibits admitting citizens of Georgia to play (Art. 32.2¹). The Georgian market is closed off entirely, and the operator needs a robust citizenship verification mechanism. Details are in Section 6.

“iGaming License” or International Permit: What Is the Difference?

In the gambling industry, this type of permit is referred to as an “iGaming license” or an “online casino license.” Georgian legislation recognizes no such license. What exists is a permit for the international organization of games in remote (online) form, issued by the Revenue Service. It is worth clarifying that this permit is viewed as an alternative to offshore licenses; we, however, see it more as a well-regulated export base.

The law regulates each vertical separately, so the international permit comes in three types:

Online casino — international organization of casino games;
Online slots — international organization of slot machine games;
Online sports betting — international organization of totalizator games.

There are three practical consequences:

Casino, slots and sports betting cannot be covered by a single permit; each vertical requires its own permit and its own fee;
All three permits are issued without a land-based venue and do not depend on one;
The permit cannot be transferred to another person.

What Changed in 2026: Online Casino, Slots and Sports Betting

A land-based venue was not mandatory for online casinos and slots in Georgia even before, but the annual fee for a standalone permit is GEL 5,000,000 and GEL 1,000,000, respectively. Online sports betting, by contrast, could only be licensed to the holder of a land-based totalizator permit, for operations within Georgia.

For casinos and slots, the change is in the price: licensing costs for an export-oriented operator drop 50-fold or 10-fold, depending on the permit type. For sports betting, this is the first route to online operation without a land-based venue.

How Much Does an iGaming License Cost in Georgia?

Permit fee: GEL 100,000 per year for each permit. The first year’s fee is paid before the application is filed; fees for subsequent years are due before the end of each successive 12-month period from the date the permit is issued;
Gambling business levy: not charged. Under the Law of Georgia “On the Gambling Business Levy,” holders of any of the three international permits are not liable for this levy. By comparison, the holder of an online permit tied to a land-based venue pays GEL 250,000–300,000 per quarter;
Prize fund: a prize fund guarantee is mandatory only for the sports betting permit: at least GEL 10,000, secured by a bank guarantee or an insurance policy. No regulatory capital requirement applies to any vertical.

A full product (casino, slots, sports betting) requires three permits, i.e. GEL 300,000 per year. This is the state permit fee only and does not include the costs of authorization certificates, infrastructure, documentation or other technical expenses.

How Online Casinos and Sports Betting Are Taxed Under the International Permit, and How This Differs from the Domestic Permit

Profit tax: for the foreign-player segment, the taxable amount is calculated on GGR, i.e. the difference between stakes and winnings paid out, at a 5% rate across all three verticals. By comparison, for Georgian players, online casino and slots are taxed at 20% of GGR, and sports betting at 7% of total stakes;
Withdrawal tax: amounts withdrawn by a foreign player from a gaming account are not taxed. By comparison, on an online platform operating under a domestic permit, a Georgian player’s withdrawals are subject to 5% withholding tax;
VAT: gaming transactions are VAT-exempt without the right to input credit, so the 18% reverse-charge VAT on foreign services (platform, content, odds feed, KYC) is a real cost;
Withholding tax: 5% on royalties, 10% on services, 5% on dividends.

In our practice, the most common mistake is equating GGR with net profit: the platform, marketing, salaries and the permit fee are not deducted from it. How bonuses and cashback are reflected in GGR must be settled before marketing is planned.

Who Can Obtain a Permit, and How Long Does It Take?

The permit is issued only to a business entity registered in Georgia, in practice an LLC. 100% foreign ownership is permitted, whereas a branch of a foreign company does not meet these requirements;
No license from another jurisdiction, operating track record or business plan is required; a newly incorporated LLC is entitled to apply for a license from the day it is registered;
The permit will not be issued if the director, a partner or the ultimate beneficial owner has a conviction for an intentional economic crime or an intentional serious or particularly serious crime, or if there is an acknowledged tax debt;
The permit is issued through a simple administrative procedure, within 20 days (20 business days in practice), for a term of 5 years.

The project’s real critical path is the preparatory stage, 4–10 weeks: incorporating the company, localizing infrastructure, opening a bank account, submitting criminal record certificates, and other administrative and legal matters.

Operational Requirements: Servers, Domain and Player Verification

Servers in Georgia: the game rules submitted to the Revenue Service must state the management address in Georgia and the location of the servers. Fully offshore hosting is not allowed;
One permit, one domain: each permit covers a single website. The domain or management location can only be changed by amending the permit register;
Website: the operator’s details, permit number, game rules and information on the participation ban must be displayed in Georgian and English;
Citizenship verification: a geo-IP filter is not enough: admitting a Georgian citizen who comes in via VPN is also a breach of the law and is prohibited. The operator must check the issuing country of the player’s identity document and the jurisdiction of the payment instrument, implement a VPN/proxy detection mechanism and re-verify registered players annually;
Software: all critical products used on the platform, including the operator’s proprietary system, require an authorization certificate from the Selected Person (Random Systems). A third-party game or platform supplier must hold a Georgian B2B (game supply) permit;
AML/CFT: an online operator is an obliged entity under the Law “On Facilitating the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.”

Fines and Permit Revocation

For the holder of an international permit, any breach of the permit conditions, including a missed fee deadline, carries a fine of GEL 20,000. If the breach is not remedied, the fine is tripled twice, after which the permit is revoked; for a missed fee deadline, however, there is no tripling stage. When operations cease, the procedure for handling player balances is set by the Minister of Finance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an online casino permit (license) cost in Georgia? The annual fee for an international permit is GEL 100,000 per vertical, with no gambling business levy. For sports betting, a GEL 10,000 prize fund guarantee is added. It is not possible to buy a ready-made permit, because transferring it to another person is prohibited: the applicant must meet all statutory requirements itself and obtain the permit from the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance.

How long does it take to obtain a permit? By law, the permit procedure takes 20 days; in Revenue Service practice, 20 business days. The preparatory stage realistically takes 4–10 weeks.

Can a foreign company obtain a permit? Not directly. The permit is issued to a business entity registered in Georgia, which may be 100% owned by a foreign company.

Can a single license cover casino, slots and sports betting? No. Each vertical requires its own permit and its own fee.

Can the servers be located outside Georgia? No. Hosting the servers in Georgia is a mandatory permit condition.

Can a Georgian player play? No. Admitting a citizen of Georgia is a breach, regardless of age or registration channel.

How Justice League Can Help The international permit is the most accessible legal route into the iGaming market in Georgia, but it requires corporate transparency, localized infrastructure, certified software and a sound tax model. Gaming permits are part of our licenses and permits practice.

Justice League has been practicing business law for 9 years. Throughout the permit process, we offer:

Legal analysis of your business model: which verticals and how many permits you need;
Preparation of the full permit documentation package, including the game rules;
Development of verification and AML/CFT policies, and tax modeling;
Representation before the Revenue Service.

If you are considering serving foreign markets from Georgia, contact us

Information is current as of 30 September 2026. This material is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice.

DITO KHVICHIA

September 30, 2026