Vanuatu Interactive Gaming License

Cost boundary

Order 110 of 2024 sets a non-refundable EUR 5,000 application fee. The license fee is EUR 10,000 for all forms of interactive gaming on one domain, payable on grant and on each anniversary. Each additional wagering domain costs EUR 1,500. The Act also makes the applicant or licensee responsible for investigation costs where applicable and for audits, systems, company, banking, compliance, and other operating expenses. The official sources do not publish one all-in incorporation or launch price. A Vanuatu company, capital and source-of-funds evidence, local financial-institution account, approved systems, annual audit, and any business or foreign-investment requirements remain separate from the headline fees.

Process timing

The Act requires the Regulator to grant or refuse an application within two months after receiving the application and all additional information or documents requested under section 4. If the application is granted, the license must be issued within seven days; a refusal notice is also due within seven days. This is the statutory decision clock after the requested evidence is in, not a two-to-three-week launch promise. Company setup, ownership and source-of-funds work, criminal and regulatory checks, game and software approval, control-system approval, equipment approval, banking, AML registration, and remediation can sit outside that simple clock.

Tax / revenue model

Order 110 of 2024 sets interactive gaming tax at 0 percent of gross turnover and 1 percent of gross gaming revenue on all wagering activity. Under the Act, gross profit for non-fixed-odds operations is amount played minus winnings, while fixed-odds turnover has a separate statutory definition; the current order should therefore be applied with the Regulator's reporting form rather than paraphrased as 1 percent of every amount wagered. Tax information and payment are due by the last working day of the following month. Vanuatu's Foreign Investment Promotion Agency states that the country has no corporate income tax, withholding tax, or capital-gains tax, but gaming tax, VAT, business-license charges, and other indirect or entity-specific obligations remain separate.

Applicant / local requirements

The applicant must be a local company registered under Vanuatu's Companies Act. The file must identify key people, ownership and control, relevant regulatory interests, capital funding, and source of funds, and the Regulator must be satisfied about fitness, financial and technical resources, structure, and management experience. The Act requires an operating account at a Vanuatu financial institution licensed under the Financial Institutions Act. Gambling records must be kept at a Regulator-approved place in Vanuatu for five years unless a regulation creates an exemption. Each game, software package, control system, and relevant equipment needs written approval. Annual accounts must be audited by a qualified auditor approved by the Regulator, normally within three months after year end. The Act does not publish a fixed local staff count or universal resident-director rule, so neither should be invented from agent packages.

Term / continuation

The Act says a license period cannot exceed fifteen years; the actual period belongs in the issued license. The annual EUR 10,000 fee for the first domain remains payable on every anniversary, with EUR 1,500 for each additional wagering domain. A renewal application must be filed at least twenty-eight days before expiry. The Regulator may refuse renewal only on a statutory suspension or revocation ground and must give notice and an opportunity to respond. A fifteen-year maximum is not proof that every applicant automatically receives the full term.

The operative statute is the Vanuatu Interactive Gaming Act, not a new 2024 replacement act. The current consolidation incorporates earlier amendments, including the local-company, beneficial-owner, source-of-funds, supervision, and fifteen-year maximum-term rules. Effective July 1, 2024, Orders 108 and 109 repealed the old 2003 tax and fee regulations, and Order 110 introduced the current EUR 5,000 application fee, EUR 10,000 annual first-domain fee, EUR 1,500 additional-domain fee, 0 percent gross-turnover rate, and 1 percent GGR rate. The current online portal is operated by VGA Limited, while the statutory regulator remains the Director of Customs and Inland Revenue.