Affiliate Gambling Business Structure

[bobcat23]

I'm an Australian (tax resident currently) gambling affiliate that gets paid in BTC and just looking into potential options for business stucture/set-up.

I'm aware of management control rules and have no issues paying tax whilst I'm here in Australia still. My family are planning to move to Europe in the next year or 2 (maybe Portugal but depends on family needs). I'm mainly wanting to create some privacy between my business and Australia as I work with both regulated and unregulated gambling (poker exclusively) sites. Basically just wanting a simple way to convert BTC to fiat and pay tax efficiently on that business income.

Currently set up as a sole proprietorship in Australia and I had recently created a Bulgarian EOOD but it's currently inactive and with Bulgaria being added to the grey list this has me just seeking some guidance, options on a recommended efficient legal set-up

If anyone has any advice or experience they're able to share please do!

 

[clemens]

Immediately, I would say that Portugal is the place where you should establish your company if you plan to move there.

I can't see how a company would benefit you, other than causing issues with documenting the source of funds (SoF), because you've disguised the flow of money. This is something the tax authorities scrutinize just as much as if you were evading taxes.

 

[uplana]

Is it affiliate business only or do you run your own unlicensed gambling sites too ?

 

[Joct]

You have probably experienced it already, however if you haven't, remember to ensure your solution makes it relatively easy to satisfy the KYC/AML requests from affiliate programs. Their attitude seems to be to ask for everything possible piece and information then add another couple to the list without understanding what they are requesting or even if it exists.

 

[lory]

Sounds like you have experience with the gaming affiliate marketing business @Joct ?

 

[Joct]

Sounds like you have experience with the gaming affiliate marketing business @Joct ?

Yes, although these days it's more just keeping abreast of what is going on because some programs understand what lifetime revenue share actually means and I have a few friends still in the industry.

It was much easier back when you could keyword stuff your pages, properties weren't owned by public companies with contempt for affiliates and not trying to compete with well funded media companies. The good old days...

 

[bobcat23]

Is it affiliate business only or do you run your own unlicensed gambling sites too ?

I don't run any gambling sites myself, it's all affiliate revenue from poker rooms/sites, although some of these are unregulated and I would probably find it difficult to showcase a source of funds I imagine.

 

[aniglo22]

I don't run any gambling sites myself, it's all affiliate revenue from poker rooms/sites, although some of these are unregulated and I would probably find it difficult to showcase a source of funds I imagine.

You need to check the local laws of these countries , because often advertisement of unlicensed/license is not valid ( because of local license) casinos is illegal .

Controversy Erupts as Bulgaria Bans Gambling Advertising in Media - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

A significant blow has been dealt to the media landscape in Bulgaria as the National Assembly approved a ban on gambling advertisements across television, news websites, and print media. The decision, made in the second reading with changes to the Gambling Act, comes amidst heated debate and...

www.novinite.com

 

[bobcat23]

Immediately, I would say that Portugal is the place where you should establish your company if you plan to move there.

I can't see how a company would benefit you, other than causing issues with documenting the source of funds (SoF), because you've disguised the flow of money. This is something the tax authorities scrutinize just as much as if you were evading taxes.

I initially set up the Bulgarian EOOD for the Portuguese Digital Nomad Visa program (which has changed recently) but I believe dividends of foreign sourced income (as long as not managed from Portugal) could be be taxed at a lower rate when I planned to set-it up. Now I'm unsure on if it's worth proceeding with after the changes. I also have some independent contactors who work for me that I thought I could pay more easily if I had a business set-up in place. I'm also not sure on which EU country my family will move to so I thought having a business set-up in a low tax jurisdiction would allow more flexibility. I'm definitely not an expert at any of this, so if any of those notions are incorrect or complex let me know!

With regards to source of funds, I'm unsure how I should prepare the documents/showcase it as a lot of the time there's no documentation from a lot of poker rooms/sites.