Lawmakers intend to lower taxation on remote gambling in Bulgaria and to reduce red tape on remote gambling license regime.

In order to increase tax incomes from remote gambling, lawmakers from the ruling majority in the Bulgarian Parliament have prepared changes and amendments to the current Gambling Act.

The current highly restrictive regime for gambling websites operated by foreign registered betting companies will be lifted, so that Bulgarian citizens can access them, according to the new legislation prepared by the Chair of the parliamentary budget committee and MP from Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS Yordan Tsonev and MPs from Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, informs Standart newspaper.

Currently Bulgaria State Gaming Commission has blocked access to at least 155 websites of foreign online gaming operators and the country’s internet service providers are required to block Bulgarian players from accessing the sites, while the operators have a two-week window in which they can appeal their blacklisting, informs gamingintelligence.com.

If proposed new licensing regime for remote gambling operators becomes effective on January 1st, 2014 as the lawmakers intend, it will make it easier for foreign registered operators to enter the Bulgarian gambling market by decreasing the regulatory power of the State Gaming Commission.

Also, the Bulgarian Parliament is considering lowering taxes on gambling in order to attract foreign operators to the country.

The current gambling tax rate in Bulgaria is of 15% of total turnover is too high for gambling operators and they have fled the country to provide their services offshore, informs pokernews.com.

In order to stimulate offshore registered gambling operators to register and pay taxes in Bulgaria the new law moves move toward a tax system based on gross gambling revenue.