Georgia has fully launched its international iGaming licence regime, letting operators based in the country offer online casino games, slots, and sports betting exclusively to players outside Georgia. The framework went into its pilot stage in July and is now moving into full operation, with the first licensees expected to launch under the new system.
The international permits run five years and cost GEL 100,000 annually for each category of gambling activity. Georgia’s Revenue Service confirmed in July that the amendments created separate permits for the international organisation of online casino games, slot-machine games, and betting, all carrying the same fee. Georgian citizens cannot use services operating under any of them.
Operators pay a 5% tax on gross gaming revenue plus a 1% regulatory monitoring fee. Georgia International Strategic Group, which is promoting the regime internationally, also says reinvested profits escape corporate income tax entirely, while distributed profit is taxed at 15%. The annual GEL 100,000 permit fee sits separately from all of the GGR-based payments.
Licensing comes bundled with access to Georgian corporate banking and payment processing under MCC 7995, the merchant category code used for gambling transactions. Onboarding can be completed remotely, with no physical office or local staff quota required, though operators do have to establish a Georgian company, a legal address, and backup server infrastructure inside the country.
Random Systems Georgia handles electronic monitoring and technical control as the government’s designated “Selected Person.” The Revenue Service still issues the gambling permits themselves, while RSG runs technical audits, monitoring, certification, and integration with the electronic control system. Some industry announcements have loosely described RSG as the regulator, though its own regulatory information states that the Revenue Service selects the company implementing the control system.
RSG supervisory board member Vakhtang Katamadze said Georgia wants to offer more than a licence, pairing regulation with banking, fintech, compliance, and the other services an international gambling business needs. The country is building an ecosystem for international iGaming at national level, he said as the full framework was announced.
Several requirements from Georgia’s previous online gambling framework disappear under the new permits. Foreign-facing online betting operators used to need a land-based sportsbook permit and at least one physical betting location, while online casino and slot permits carried considerably higher annual fees unless tied to existing land-based operations. The international permits apply specifically to overseas customers and require no corresponding land-based venue.
Parliament approved the legislative basis in June, with the amendments published on July 3. Georgia already hosts technology, live casino, software, and operational teams connected to Evolution, Flutter, Entain, Betsson, Spribe, and SmartSoft, and the government-backed framework aims to pull more of the licensing, banking, and payments side of international iGaming into the country alongside them.
No operator has been publicly named as the first to take bets under one of the new international permits. RSG says applicants are already working through banking and licensing procedures, and the September launch confirms that the regulatory, monitoring, and payment infrastructure behind the regime is now in place.