How to get a gambling license in the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is one of the most popular jurisdiction for obtaining a gambling license. The government of The Isle of Man was one of the first to enact legislation in the sphere of online gaming regulation.
Gambling license of the Isle of Man regulates the following types of services:
- casino;
- bingo;
- lottery;
- betting, including pool bets;
- betting intermediation;
- provision and delivery of software;
- network services.
The regulating authority is the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC).
Mandatory requirements to the applicants are:
- The company registered in the Isle of Man;
- Minimum two local directors;
- Minimum one designated official (usually one of the directors) residing on the Isle of Man who will be a main contact person to communicate with the regulator during the licensing process and after. It is possible to appoint an operating manager if the officer resides outside the Isle of Man, but in this case, the operating manager must demonstrate competence and be approved by the regulator;
- Registration of the players must be on servers of the Isle of Man;
- The bank account has to be set up in the Isle of Man.
The responsibilities of the designated official (or the designated operations manager) will include:
- Providing complete information on the company: strategy, business plan, organizational structure, information on the flow of funds and instruments to protect the players;
- Demonstrating understanding of the local gambling regulations and how the applicant is planning to meet the requirements ;
- Guaranteeing protection of the player’s funds;
- Guaranteeing implementation of anti-money-laundering directives and reporting of suspicious transactions;
- Notifying GSC about changes in the company;
- Providing regular audits as required;
- Responding to regulator requests in a timely manner.
The application review process takes approximately three months. Non-refundable fee for consideration of the application is £ 5,000.
Official regulator fee for a standard gambling license is £ 35,000. The license is issued for a term of five years, which may be extended after the expiry.
Sub-licenses are also issued for £ 5,000 fee for a five-year period. As of today there is only one active sub-license in the Isle of Man.
Another type of license is a network services or software license. It issued for a five-year period. The fee for such license is £ 50,000.
The Isle of Man has a long- standing experience in the sphere of online gambling and has gained a reputation as a prestigious and reliable jurisdiction for this business. The Isle of Man is in the white list of gambling jurisdictions, which means that companies are allowed to advertise gambling services in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the Isle of Man is included in the white list of countries that comply with the OECD world standards of tax cooperation.
In addition, the Isle of Man has favorable taxation conditions: the tax on online games ranges from 0.1% to 1.5% of revenue (not on turnover); the corporate tax rate for a gaming company is 0%; the capital gains tax- 0%; there is no requirement to deduct income tax from most dividends and interest payments.
If you are considering obtaining a gambling license in the Isle of Man, Mayon Solutions can provide full project support, including company registration, supervision of application process, opening a bank account, etc.
We are developing new and the most up-to date solutions for our clients to maximize their business performance.
Shall you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail: info@mayon.solutions.