ONLINE GAMBLING IN THE SYSTEM OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY

Abstract

The article is devoted to online gambling in the system of the national economy, using the example of European countries, USA and Ukraine. Taking into account, that many countries around the world have legalized gambling primarily because they see it as a tool for economic growth, the gambling industry has grown rapidly over the past two decades. And this growth is overviewed due to technological leaps in payment systems and software. Countries that have legalized online gaming can be classified into three groups: 1) countries that offer operators low-cost licensing with low tax rates and little or no regulatory oversight; 2) countries from the European jurisdiction, which also regulate online games for economic development, but have more rules compared to the first group; 3) developed countries with complex regulatory policies. Furthermore the gambling business is characterized by high profitability, lack of production and services, special types of tax regulation are used to tax this area: 1) tax on the turnover of bets (deducted from the entire amount of funds from bets made, regardless of the amount of winnings); 2) tax on gross profit (the basis of taxation is the difference between the funds received from the bets made and the amount of winnings returned to the players). The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the market because consumers have increasingly turned to online platforms to overcome financial, psychological and social crises during the quarantine. Thanks to quarantine measures and a work-from-home culture, it was one of the industries that thrived during the pandemic. As a result, traditional gamblers shifted their focus to online gambling, increasing market demand once again. Although the mobile gambling market is limited in some countries, it is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Although the liberalization of online gambling has a positive effect on increasing the share of gambling revenues in the country's GDP, this growth index will be greater in those countries where gambling is targeted at local consumers.