Sri Lanka is moving from a tax-only regime to a licensed one. For decades the state's relationship with gambling ran through the Betting and Gaming Levy Act of 1988: casinos and bookmakers paid annual levies and a levy on gross collection, and the Inland Revenue Department was in practice the only authority that mattered. The Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, No. 17 of 2025, certified on 3 September 2025 and reported in operation from 1 December 2025, creates a dedicated regulator under the Minister of Finance with a board drawn from the Treasury, Inland Revenue, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the police. Its definition of gambling is deliberately wide: betting, gaming, online gaming, casinos, cruise-ship casinos, junket operations and digital gambling, the last covering interactive, internet and mobile play. Applicants must be Sri Lankan-incorporated companies with a minimum capital yet to be fixed by Gazette, and the Authority's officers may enter online portals as well as premises. The fiscal side was tightened in parallel. The gross collection levy on gaming and bookmaking rises from 15% to 18% for years from 1 January 2026, the annual levy on a gaming business is Rs 500 million, internet or agent-based bookmakers pay Rs 5 million a year, and the casino entrance levy on Sri Lankan citizens, which applies whether they enter physically or via the internet, doubles to USD 100. Every figure here is from the Act texts or the Inland Revenue Department's notice. Licences under the new Authority had not been issued at the accessed date, so online betting and casino are recorded as pre-regulation: taxed, defined and awaiting a licensing round.
Citing the Act as No. 16 of 2025. The Parliament's certified text is No. 17 of 2025; several secondary summaries carry the wrong number.
Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, No. 17 of 2025
Betting and Gaming Levy Act, No. 40 of 1988, as amended by Acts No. 11 of 2023 and No. 25 of 2025
Casino Business (Regulation) Act, No. 17 of 2010
Licence to carry on gambling (Gambling Regulatory Authority)
Junket operator licence
1 Apr 2023
Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2023: gross collection levy 15%, annual gaming levy Rs 500 million, casino entrance levy USD 50 for citizens.
3 Sept 2025
Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, No. 17 of 2025 certified.
1 Dec 2025
Act reported to come into operation by ministerial order (tier-2 source).
17 Dec 2025
Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 25 of 2025 certified: levy to 18% from 1 January 2026, entrance levy to USD 100.
The first licence conditions and the minimum-capital order are the items to watch, because they will decide whether the digital gambling definition becomes a real online market or stays a tax hook for the existing casinos. The USD 100 entrance levy applying 'via internet' is the clearest signal that the state expects citizens to play online under licence. Anyone modelling entry should assume the 18% gross collection levy and the Rs 500 million annual levy as the floor.
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Parliament of Sri Lanka
Several law-firm summaries cite this as Act No. 16 of 2025. The Parliament's certified English text is headed No. 17 of 2025 and that numbering is used here.
Parliament of Sri Lanka
Inland Revenue Department, Sri Lanka
D. L. & F. De Saram (Sri Lankan law firm)
Tier 2, used only for the commencement date. The Act commences on a date appointed by the Minister by Gazette order; the gazette itself could not be retrieved from documents.gov.lk at the accessed date.