Serbia ranks second in Europe for the number of bookmakers and casinos per capita, generating significant revenue from gambling fees. In 2024 alone, more than 177 million euros were collected in taxes and fees for organizing games of chance, according to Nova Ekonomija. Currently, there are 2,921 bookmakers in Serbia, a number that is three times higher per capita than Italy, five times higher than the UK, and six times more than Spain. The only country with more betting shops per capita than Serbia is Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bookmakers in Serbia are subject to several types of fees, including special fees for organizing games of chance, taxes on player winnings, corporate income taxes, VAT, and employee income taxes. In 2024, bookmakers and other gambling operators contributed over 20 billion dinars (approximately 177 million euros) to the Serbian budget through various levies. This includes fees for betting, electronic gambling, and machine-based betting. The special fee for casinos amounted to about 368.4 million dinars, while machine-based betting contributed around 8.2 billion dinars, and traditional betting accounted for about 3.4 billion dinars.
Additionally, bookmakers who organize electronic betting contributed 6.4 billion dinars to the state budget last year. Revenue from prize games totaled approximately 200 million dinars, while traditional games of chance generated around 2.2 billion dinars.
The total public revenue from gambling in 2024 was about 320 million euros. This represents a significant increase compared to the previous year, when bookmakers paid over 17.7 billion dinars (151.3 million euros) in fees.
Recent amendments to the Law on Games of Chance, adopted at the end of 2023, significantly raised the fees that bookmakers must pay. For slot machines, a 15 percent tax is now charged on the difference between the total amount wagered and the total winnings paid out to players. Similarly, for betting, the fee is 15 percent of the difference between the total stakes and the total winnings. Online betting operators also face a 15 percent fee, while electronic games with live or delayed broadcasts (such as live roulette) are taxed at 25 percent.
A uniform rate of 25 percent is now applied to all gambling activities within physical facilities, with the base for calculating the fee depending on the specific game. In addition to gambling operators, the state also taxes players’ winnings at a rate of 20 percent on amounts exceeding 143,872 dinars.
An interesting trend is that in some areas, bookmakers can be seen located next to each other, despite the law requiring a minimum distance of 100 meters between two gambling establishments.
