Top 5 countries to kick off an offshore online casino

Introduction

In an industry that is booming and shows no time of slowing, the time to invest in a gaming business is now. But where do you start from?

Since the gaming industry is a regulated one, acquiring a licence can be a lengthy process. These are the top five countries to look into before launching your online gaming operations: Here we will discuss the range of benefits of acquiring a gaming licence in our top five ranked countries can bring about.

All countries are given a rating from 1 star to 5 (1 being the lowest, 5 the highest). The overall rating is based on 5 criteria:

• Tax advantages each country offers
• Safety and player protection
• Ease of doing business, which ranks economies from 1 to 190, with first-place being the best. A high ranking (a low numerical rank) means that the regulatory environment is conducive to business operation.
• Talent pool with potential job candidates
• Cost of maintaining a certain standard of living represented through graphs by presenting the distribution of expenses (source: Numbeo)

Malta

Malta holds the gold standard of iGaming licensing, this is attributed to the numerous attractive advantages it presents.

Tax Advantages: *** The corporate tax rate in Malta is set at 35% although in Malta, there's a tax refund system in place. This system includes a particular scheme called the 6/7ths refund. This scheme results in an effective tax rate of just 5% depending on the circumstances. If companies fulfill certain criteria they can also benefit from a lower corporate tax.

Operators holding a Maltese gambling licence are eligible to access customers in different markets unless these markets are FATF blacklisted.

Safety: **** Malta was the first country in Europe to introduce online gambling regulations in 2000 developing a strong legal-framework and strong player protection. Players feel safe and secure betting money on Maltese operational websites as if the operator is not adhering to the regulations presented by the MGA their licence will be revoked immediately.

Ease of doing business: *** According to the latest World Bank annual ratings, Malta is ranked 88 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business. By the end of 2020, the Ease Of Doing Business in Malta is expected to reach 79.04 according to Trading Economics global macro models.

Talent Pool: * Ever since the iGaming boom in Malta, the country has seen an influx of talent and an abundance of opportunities for individuals seeking jobs in the industry. According to a recent analysis by the CountryProfiler, Malta has nearly 7,000 people employed on full-time basis and an additional 3,000-4,000 employed for ancillary work in the gaming sector.