{"id":19788,"date":"2026-01-07T17:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/?p=19788"},"modified":"2026-01-07T17:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:04:49","slug":"sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On January 5, 2026, Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1, residents of Sri Lanka will now need to pay US$100 to access casinos or gaming halls within the country. This fee has doubled from the previous rate of $50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Furthermore, the parliament raised the gaming tax from 15% to 18% last year for operators, including bookmakers, who report monthly gross revenues exceeding Rs 1 million (approximately $3,226). According to the Inland Revenue Department, all such operators are \u201cshall collect a CEL [Casino Entry Levy] of $100 or its equivalent in any other convertible foreign currency or in Sri Lankan currency from a Sri Lankan citizen who enters into such a place of business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recent rate adjustments, introduced in May 2025 and enacted in December, modify the Betting and Gaming Levy Act of 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These tax hikes could be viewed as an indication of confidence in the gaming industry, which is forecasted to generate $410 million in revenue for 2026, up from $240 million in 2020. The Daily Mirror highlights that gaming \u201chas been identified as a key area for enhanced fiscal contribution\u201d as the government aims to expand its tax base. Industry experts project a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% through 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One prominent example of this growth potential is City of Dreams Sri Lanka, which opened last year in Colombo. The integrated resort, a collaboration between John Keells Holding and Melco Resorts International, targets visitors from India, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East\u2014regions accessible within four hours by air. Reuters reports that Sri Lanka aims to attract three million tourists this year, representing a 27% increase from 2025. Melco\u2019s Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho described City of Dreams as \u201ca symbol of possibility and a celebration of Sri Lanka\u2019s potential as a world-class destination,\u201d and expressed optimism that Sri Lanka \u201ccan be to India what Macau is to China.\u201d To regulate this expanding industry, Sri Lanka plans to establish its first Gambling Regulatory Authority by June 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Read also: <a href=\"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/new-year-new-slot-pragmatic-play-launches-jokers-jewels-hold-spin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Year, New Slot: Pragmatic Play Launches Joker\u2019s Jewels Hold &amp; Spin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new levies are part of the government\u2019s efforts to replenish funds drained during the 2022 economic crisis. That year marked Sri Lanka\u2019s first-ever declaration of bankruptcy and default on foreign debt. Inflation soared past 50%, and shortages of fuel and food led to widespread poverty and protests nationwide. In 2023, the International Monetary Fund stepped in with a multibillion-dollar bailout. Since then, although the economy remains delicate, it has shown signs of stabilization. Last year, government projections set growth at 3.1% for this year, but after Cyclone Ditwah struck in November, the IMF revised the forecast slightly downward to 2.9%. <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-white-color\">Sri Lanka casino gaming<\/mark><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On January 5, 2026, Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1, residents of Sri Lanka will now need to pay US$100 to access casinos or gaming halls within the country. This fee has doubled from the previous &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,25],"tags":[953],"class_list":["post-19788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-europe-gambling-news","category-news","tag-sri-lanka-gaming"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iGmaing Europa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T14:04:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"iGaming Europa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"iGaming Europa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"iGaming Europa\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5bc8f0b1140887e8130ffe69a5962aea\"},\"headline\":\"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T14:04:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sri Lanka gaming\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Casino\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T14:04:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5bc8f0b1140887e8130ffe69a5962aea\"},\"description\":\"Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/07\\\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"iGmaing Europa\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5bc8f0b1140887e8130ffe69a5962aea\",\"name\":\"iGaming Europa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"iGaming Europa\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/igamingeuropa.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/igaming-europa\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax","description":"Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax","og_description":"Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1","og_url":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/","og_site_name":"iGmaing Europa","article_published_time":"2026-01-07T14:04:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"iGaming Europa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"iGaming Europa","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/"},"author":{"name":"iGaming Europa","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5bc8f0b1140887e8130ffe69a5962aea"},"headline":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax","datePublished":"2026-01-07T14:04:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/"},"wordCount":461,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg","keywords":["Sri Lanka gaming"],"articleSection":["Casino","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/","url":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/","name":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-07T14:04:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5bc8f0b1140887e8130ffe69a5962aea"},"description":"Sri Lanka announced a hike in its casino entry charges and gaming taxes. As per the new legislation that came into effect on January 1","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/output-2026-01-07T122540.829.jpg","width":640,"height":640,"caption":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/sri-lanka-raises-casino-entry-fee-to-100-and-boosts-gaming-tax\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sri Lanka Raises Casino Entry Fee to $100 and Boosts Gaming Tax"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/","name":"iGmaing Europa","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5bc8f0b1140887e8130ffe69a5962aea","name":"iGaming Europa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"iGaming Europa"},"url":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/author\/igaming-europa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/igamingeuropa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}