How to get a gambling licence in Kazakhstan: fees and steps

The law licenses four activities, one licence each: casino, slot hall, bookmaker and totalisator (art. 6(1)). Only the bookmaker and totalisator licences reach players online, and only through an electronic cash desk.

• Every licence runs ten years (art. 9(2)). Renewal is a new licence, filed 90 calendar days before expiry; there is no automatic renewal.
• MCI is the monthly calculation index set in the budget law: 4,325 tenge from 1 January 2026.
• Foreign bookmaker and totalisator sites without a Kazakh licence are prohibited (art. 6(2)(2-1)). The ESU operator sends the domains of unlicensed sites to the authority for mass media to restrict access, and providing payment services in favour of foreign organisers on the authority's list is banned (art. 6(2)(9)).
• Running an internet casino or operating without a licence is a crime (Criminal Code art. 307): part 1 carries a fine up to 2,000 MCI or imprisonment up to 2 years.
• A player taking part in gambling in places not set aside for it is fined 200 MCI (Code of Administrative Offences art. 444(1)). Persons under 21 may not take part (art. 15(1)).

Laws that apply

• Gambling Business Law No. 219 of 12 January 2007: arts. 6 (licensed activities and bans), 9-14 (licences, siting, reserve), 12-1 and 12-2 (hardware-software complex, ESU), 12-3 (3.3% deduction from bets)
• Order No. 195 of 8 July 2020: rules of the state services in gambling (licence issue and re-issue)
• Order No. 175 of 9 October 2024: model rules of gambling establishments, bookmakers and totalisators
• Order No. 46 of 2 April 2025: rules of the Unified Accounting System (ESU)
• Tax Code No. 214-VIII of 18 July 2025: tax on gambling business, arts. 605-611; licence fee, art. 616
• Law on Advertising of 19 December 2003 No. 508, art. 13; Code of Administrative Offences, arts. 444, 445, 455(1-1); Criminal Code, art. 307
• AML/CFT Law of 28 August 2009 No. 191-IV

The law requires a legal entity but sets no nationality or seat test. Presence in Kazakhstan follows from the other rules: premises, a reserve deposit in a Kazakh bank and a server at the organiser's location.

• No minimum share capital is set. The financial requirement is the reserve: 40,000 MCI for a bookmaker and 10,000 MCI for a totalisator, held on a demand deposit with a bank in Kazakhstan (arts. 13(1)(6), 14). If it falls below the statutory size, it must be topped up within three working days.
• A bookmaker or totalisator needs a building it owns that meets sanitary and fire norms, owned betting equipment, contracts with licensed security companies, and bookmaker rules in Kazakh and Russian in line with the model rules.
• Applications are electronic only, through egov.kz and elicense.kz with an electronic digital signature. There is no application window; the decision takes ten working days, and a re-issue takes three.
• The Committee refuses on seven grounds, among them unpaid licence fee, failure of the art. 13 requirements, false documents, or a court ban. A refusal can be appealed first to the Committee, which reviews within five working days, then to a higher body and the court.
• The platform must be a hardware-software complex the organiser runs itself, with its server at the organiser's location in Kazakhstan and a fiscal-mode cash-register system (art. 12-1(1)). It must integrate with the ESU within 15 working days after the Committee's notice (art. 12-1(5)).

Kazakhstan taxes gambling by the object, not by revenue: the tax on gambling business is a fixed monthly multiple of the index per table, machine or cash desk (Tax Code arts. 605-611, in force from 1 January 2026).

• The return is due by the 15th of the second month after the quarter, and payment by the 25th (arts. 610-611).
• Gambling turnover is outside VAT (art. 450(4)). Corporate income tax on gambling income is 25% (art. 357(2)(4)); the general rate is 20%.
• Bookmakers and totalisators also pay a 3.3% deduction from every accepted bet (Law art. 12-3; decree No. 167 of 12 March 2026), split to the sport funds, the National Olympic Committee fund, the public fund "Қазақстан халқына" and the ESU.
• Players' winnings are taxable income. Residents are taxed at the general scale, 10% up to 8,500 MCI of annual income and 15% above; non-residents pay 10% withheld at source, or 20% if registered in a preferential-tax state (art. 682).
• A licensed organiser is a tax agent and withholds the tax on winnings it pays to residents.

Bookmaker and totalisator advertising is tightly limited by Law on Advertising art. 13. Advertising of electronic and internet casino is banned (art. 6(5-1)).

• Allowed: the licensed organiser's own official internet resource; registered mass media with an exclusively sports theme; direct broadcast of international sports competitions by domestic TV channels; and inside sports facilities during sports events.
• Banned: outdoors (except in the gambling zones), on vehicles, on other online platforms, and by transmission to mobile devices. The Committee reads this to ban social networks and messengers completely, including indirect advertising such as a bookmaker's name or logo in material published by private persons, and SMS and calls with promotions, bonuses, free bets or odds.
• Content is limited to name, trademark elements, location, internet resource and licence date, term and number (art. 13(1-5)). No calls to register or bet.
• Fine for non-compliant bookmaker advertising: 60 MCI for individuals, up to 400 MCI for large business (Code art. 455(1-1)).

The route for an online bookmaker or totalisator. Casinos and slot halls are land-based and not part of it.

1. 01

   Form a legal entity and secure premises

   Law arts. 1(12), 11, 13

   The applicant is a legal entity with no nationality test. It needs an owned building on a territory fixed by the Government, and owned betting equipment.

2. 02

   Place the reserve deposit

   Law arts. 13(1)(6), 14

   Open a demand deposit in a Kazakh bank: 40,000 MCI for a bookmaker, 10,000 MCI for a totalisator.

3. 03

   Apply electronically

   Order No. 195

   File through egov.kz and elicense.kz with the licence fee (640 MCI) and the documents in the licence rules. The Committee decides in ten working days.

4. 04

   Integrate with the ESU

   Law art. 12-1(5)

   Connect the hardware-software complex to the Unified Accounting System within 15 working days of the Committee's notice, and register the electronic cash desk on a .KZ or .ҚАЗ domain with the tax authority.

5. 05

   Pay tax and the bet deduction

   Tax Code art. 607; Law art. 12-3

   Pay the monthly tax per cash desk quarterly and the 3.3% deduction from each accepted bet.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 9 Nov 2026.