Inminent Brexit could end with the online gaming industry in Gibraltar

Gibraltar has been, for years, a tax haven for the main online gaming operators with license in Spain. This activity would generate more than 3,200 direct jobs and gathered more than 30 companies of the sector, which have been installed there after the regulation of the sector in 2011. Of that thirty companies, no one remains at present.

William Hill, 888 and Botemanía (Gamesys) have been the last in runing from UK political uncertainty and have moved their respective fiscal adresses from Gibraltar to Malta, as sources of the sector confirm. They follow Bet365, which had done the same before Summer.

From the referéndum in 2016 in favor of Brexit, those companies started to administrate alternative plans that included the possibility of bringing their activities to Malta, something that they have performed definitely.

There is no online operator in Gibraltar to operate in Spain, and the main reason are the consequences they would face for staying in British territory if the UK decided to leave EU.

The gaming regulation approved in 2011 allowed companies of the sector to set their fiscal adress in Spain, as long as they were authorized in other states belonging to the European Economic Area.

“Once the UK abandons EU, Gibraltar will stop being part of the mentioned space," affirmed Albert Agustinoy, Cuatrecasas Partner, specialized in gambling legislation. “If operators licenced in Spain had maintained their venue in Gibraltar, they would have lost their license at the monent Brexit became effective," he added. "Moving their venues has been forced due to a regulatory reason, with the aim to keep having their licenses in SPain."
Both William Hill and 888.com as well as Botemanía have chosen the same place: Malta. It is the home of some of the main operators, such as Bwin, Betfair, Betway or Bet365, which manages its sportsbooks business via the society Hillside New Media Malta Plc.

“The main reason is that Malta was one of the first member states of the European Union in regulating online gaming, counting with a wide technological infrastructure and services to administrate this industry, on top of an interesting tax regime," describes Agustinoy, who underlines the fact that Malta does not excempt companies to pay taxes to Spanish gaming.
Malta has been chosen to save companies from the Brexit effect, although Albert Agustinoy does not discard that, in the mid term, they could decide to install in Ceuta or Melilla, which present a tax type of 10% for the winnings obtained, half that in the rest of Spain. Codere has already moved the adress of its online venue to Melilla in October 2018.