The Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a proposal to significantly increase taxes on organizations operating in the gambling business, ruling party MP Hayk Sargsyan announced during a parliamentary debate on Wednesday.

Sargsyan proposed reforming the taxation system for online games with winnings and online casinos while totalizers and bookmakers would remain unaffected. Citing his research, he noted that the gambling industry's turnover had skyrocketed from 14 billion drams to 6.3 trillion drams in Armenia.

“At the same time, revenues from taxes and duties have increased from 1 billion drams to 33 billion drams,” he stated, arguing that the existing tax structure fails to capture the industry’s true profits due to self-reported financial figures that authorities cannot verify.

To address this, Sargsyan proposed introducing a 10% turnover tax in addition to existing taxes and duties, estimating that this measure would generate an additional 100 billion drams annually for the state budget.

Following lengthy and heated debates, the committee approved the tax initiative. By the end of discussions, with the support of fellow MP Sergey Bagratyan, Sargsyan agreed to raise the turnover tax to 20%, further increasing potential state revenue from the gambling sector.

Earlier, speaking at a press conference, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan noted that gambling exists worldwide and cannot be prohibited entirely, especially with the accessibility of online betting platforms operating across borders.

“It is a form of activity that exists in all countries and cannot be banned,” he said. “If we restrict the internet, I am sure there will be many comments accusing us of limiting people’s freedom and taking a dictatorial step.”

Pashinyan attributed the challenge to large financial investments in the gambling sector and the rapid advancement of technology, which has made regulation difficult to keep pace with.

Despite these difficulties, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to tightening restrictions as much as possible.