Licensing and tax revenues (Grenada)

Full article

1) Context: starting point

Grenada is a small economy with a pronounced tourist profile. The gaming sector is represented mainly by small offline rooms at hotels, and online traffic goes to offshore platforms. Consequently, today budget revenues are formed mainly from offline (licenses, taxes on activities, salary deductions, indirect taxes), while online potential has not yet been monetized locally.

2) What makes up the "breech": a complete set of tools

Tool	What it is	Who concerns	Ad notata
Application fee	One-time license application fee	Operators/Sites	Covers primary due diligence
Annual license fee	Annual fixed license fee (by game type)	Casinos/halls, bookmakers, bingo/lotteries	Can be indexed by inflation/object category
GGR tax	Gross gaming income tax (rate% of GGR)	Operators	Base = bets − wins
Corporate tax	General income tax	Operators	After accounting for expenses and GGR tax
Employment taxes	Income and social contributions from the wage fund	Employees/Employers	Direct contribution through employment
Compliance & audit fee	Supervision Fees, RNG/Payment Flow Audits	Operators	Fix/hybrid, can cover regulator costs
Responsible Gaming levy	Contributions to the Responsible Play Fund	Operators	% of GGR or fixed for license
Lottery/Bingo permits	Permissions and deductions from pools	Organizers	Part can be directed to social projects
Indirect taxes	VAT/sales taxes on related services	F&B, advertising, events	Indirect fiscal effect

💡 GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue) = bet amount minus winnings paid; this is a key focus point for gambling taxation in many jurisdictions.

3) Offline segment: a practical model for Grenada

Betting architecture (approximate, reference):

Annual license fee (offline casino/hall): a fixed amount tied to the size of the hall/the number of cars or tables (for example, steps: up to 50 EGM, 51-100, 100 +).
GGR tax (offline): a moderate rate so as not to go into the "gray zone" (benchmark 10-20% of GGR).
Compliance & audit fee: a fixed annual fee to cover the costs of the regulator (IT, inspections, tests).
RG levy: 0. 5-1% of GGR to the responsible play fund.

Advantages of the model:

Transparency for investors and predictability for the budget.
Low margin load on small halls so as not to "strangle" the resort economy.
Funding supervision and RG not from the general budget, but from the industry.

4) Lotteries and bingo: the'social' source of revenue

Permits/product licenses (annually), pool deductions, or fixed draw fees.

Part of the funds under the law is directed to social and public programs (sports, culture, education), which increases public support for the sector.

For transparency - a public report: how much is collected, where it is distributed.

5) Potential online frame: where the lost income "lies"

When starting local regulation of online gambling (B2C/B2B), the basket may include: For B2C (player operators):

Application fee + Annual license fee (by vertical: casino, live, bets).
GGR tax (online) - like offline, but with digital reporting control.
Responsible Gaming levy and compliance fee for IT auditing, transaction monitoring, KYC/AML.

For B2B (software/content/payment providers):

Separate supplier license (annual fee), without GGR tax (no end player), but with audit and due diligence.
Optional - low turnover fee (if white-label services are provided).

Why B2B: creates a cluster of jobs (technical support, DevOps, risk analytics, backfix) without requiring large-scale ground infrastructure.

6) Balance of bets: "do not overheat" and do not underfill

Too high GGR/license rates → offshore demand and lower investment.

Too low rates → the budget "does not see" a noticeable effect and the regulator lacks resources.

The golden mean is a moderate GGR tax + understandable annual fees, reinforced by the reporting control system (data feed, reports on sessions/jackpots, reconciliation of cash desks).

7) KPI for the Ministry of Finance/Regulator

1. Fiscal: GGR receipts, annual fees, RG levy, corporate tax.

2. Compliance: proportion of operators audited; timelines for incident response; number of closed cases.

3. Labor economics: number of direct/indirect jobs; average monthly salary; vacancies in the iGaming/B2B.

4. Social effect of RG: the volume of the fund, the number of trained employees, the number of consultations/appeals.

8) Illustrative scenarios (conditional ranges)

Approximate calculations for understanding the order of values; are not a forecast.

Scenario	What we do	Fiscal effect (benchmark)
Status Quo (offline only)	Licenses offline + moderate GGR, RG levy	Stable but limited admissions; growth depends on tourist flow
Light Online B2C	Pilot 5-10 online licenses, GGR 10-15%, RG 0. 5–1%	Online money + supervision funding becoming visible
B2C + B2B cluster	Individual B2B licenses, call centers/support	Add. employment and payroll taxes; sustainable contribution out of season
Tourist mode	Online for non-residents + offline mix	Tourist Evening Check Improvement, Indirect Taxes Rise

9) Risk management

Anti-money laundering compliance (KYC/AML): clear rules for the source of funds, limits, reporting on suspicious transactions.

RNG/infrastructure audit: regular tests, supplier certification.

Cybersecurity: data storage requirements, incident response plan.

RG & advertising: restriction of aggressive marketing, self-exclusion, deposit/time limits.

10) Implementation roadmap (sketch)

0-6 months Diagnostics: inventory of offline objects, fee card, online leak assessment.

6-12 months. Draft law/regulation: license matrix (offline/online/B2B), GGR, RG levy rates, reporting requirements.

12-18 months. Pilot: 1-2 categories of licenses, connection of reporting gateways (data feeds), launch of a public register of licenses.

18-30 months Scaling: vertical expansion, full cycle of audits, integration with tourism (joint promos, MICE).

11) Transparency checklist for market confidence

Public register of licenses and list of certified B2B providers.

Unified reporting templates (offline/online).

Regulator's annual report: how much has been collected, how much has been sent to RG/for supervision.

Horizontal SLAs: deadlines for reviewing applications, scheduled inspections and payments.

12) Withdrawal

Income from the gambling industry for Grenada is not only a tax on GGR, but a comprehensive system: reasonable licensing fees, financing of supervision and RG, corporate and salary taxes, indirect revenues from the tourist multiplier. By carefully calibrating rates and launching an online framework (including B2B), the sector is able to deliver predictable budget flows, new jobs and a stronger image of Grenada as a transparent and responsible Caribbean jurisdiction.