Obtaining a gambling license on the Isle of Man — requirements and documents, licensing gambling activities | Law&Trust International

Online Casino License on the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is a dependent territory of Great Britain, an island in the English Channel. This offshore territory is one of the most prestigious for obtaining a license for the gambling business. The first gambling regulation commission was created here in 1962, and in 2001, an organization for controlling online gambling appeared.
Mann has several significant advantages, due to which applicants are recommended to use this particular country for registering a gambling business:

  • Stable and prestigious jurisdiction;
  • Low income tax at the rate of 1.5% on income;
  • Loyalty and the positive attitude of the regulator towards a potential licensee;
  • Single license for all types of gambling.

The state does not subdivide gambling into categories

If in other jurisdictions you need to submit several documentation packages and obtain different permissions for a slot machine, bingo, lottery, and poker, here it is enough to prepare one bulk package and one application form for all types of games, as well as for bookmaker activities. This significantly speeds up the review period and the launch of the project.

There is an opportunity to obtain not only the main license but also the sublicense. The first one is issued to corporations that independently acquire the necessary software, conduct advertising campaigns, and comprehensively develop without the help of other business entities.

Sublicense allows a small casino to work on behalf of a larger independent organization, which is beneficial for beginners in gambling. After a certain period of time, a small business can be re-qualified as the main corporation. The conditions for changing the status can be clarified with our lawyers.

Another type of license that can be obtained in addition to the main license is a network service license. Such a license allows its holder to conclude agreements with other operators and offer users gambling on their online platform outside the Isle of Man, eliminating the need to re-register user data.

Requirements

  • The applicant must have its own company and a real office in the Isle of Man, regardless of what type of services it will provide: online gambling or on-land casinos.
  • The company must have at least two local directors. They are required to have significant experience in working with finances, as well as relevant education.
  • When applying for a license, you must also provide a business plan.
  • The servers of the online gambling platform should be located in the Isle of Man.
  • A bank account must be opened with a local bank to execute all operations.
  • The account must contain the authorized capital in a certain amount. The amount of funds on the account should reflect the success of the corporation, as well as be consistent with the business plan of the company.
  • Players must be familiar with the rules of jurisdiction, for this, rules are published on the site in several world-class languages. The absence of this information may be regarded as hiding information or an attempt to mislead users.

Documents

  • Сertificates of the clean criminal record of the owners of the company issued no later than 3 months before filing;
  • Notarized copies of passport(s);
  • Bank statements of owners not older than 3 months;
  • Copies of utility bills not older than 3 months;
  • A detailed description of the proposed games;
  • Detailed business plan;
  • Confirmation of the application for RNG and its fairness (third-party certification);
  • Details of the software used and a TST report (or similar), if any;
  • Information about the geographical location of the target market;
  • A statement by the owners that they blocked access to services for minors, and information about problems with gambling on the site.

Taxation

Before obtaining a license for a casino, you should familiarize yourself with tax rates that depend on the income level of the owner of the gambling structure. The lower the corporate income level, the more tax it is subject to. With an income of less than £ 20 million per year, the tax will be 1.5%. With an income of 20 to 40 million pounds per year, the tax will be 0.5%. With an income above 40 million pounds per year, the tax rate will be 0.1%. When calculating the tax amount, the net profit of the casino is taken into account.

Our clients

Our team

Vladyslava Volianyk
Junior Legal Counsel
Svetlana Artemenko
Legal Adviser
Annie Lingerman
Senior Lawyer
Ekaterina Bogatova
Lawyer
Aleksander Shushin
Lawyer
Victoria Zhelezova
Branch Director, HR
Read more
Anastasia Alexeeva
Paralegal
Dariia Grib
Legal secretaries & Receptionists
Read more