House of Representatives adopts amendments to the VAT Law taxing gambling

(Patria) - The House of Representatives of the Parliament of BiH tonight adopted, under urgent procedure, the Proposal for the Law on Amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax of BiH, proposed by representative Mia Karamehić-Abazović.


Voting outcome in the House of Representatives

This legal solution envisages the deletion of the provision exempting gambling from VAT payment.

The explanation states that this amendment aims to include gambling in the system of indirect taxation in BiH, with the goal of taxing an activity whose impact is socially negative and causes addiction, financial losses, and other undesirable consequences for users.

The proponent believes that taxing such an activity will have a disincentive effect on users, while simultaneously enabling the generation of tax revenue that should consequently be used to address the health and social consequences of this activity, as well as to provide additional funding for the healthcare system in BiH, in accordance with the constitutional competencies of the entities of RS and FBiH, i.e., the cantons.

The aim of the amendments is also corrective, given that the exclusion of gambling from the indirect taxation system in the law is completely socially and financially unjustified, and causes damage to the budgets of institutions in BiH by placing them in a privileged position compared to other taxpayers, a privileged position that the legislator has not justified in any way.

The representatives also supported a conclusion by which the Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA) of BiH is tasked with drafting, within 60 days from the adoption of this law, a rulebook on the method of taxing gambling and possibly other documents necessary for the implementation of the Law on Value Added Tax of BiH, Article 25.

A conclusion by representative Šerif Špago (SDA) was also adopted, according to which the House of Representatives requests that the House of Peoples consider the Proposal for the Law on Amendments to the VAT Law under urgent procedure.