Curaçao

The online gaming industry of Curaçao has been legalized since 1993 when the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard entered into force. Online gaming licenses are issued by the Minister of Justice by national decrees. The Minister of Finance has recently been tasked with the licensing for and the supervision of the online gaming sector.

When the Netherlands Antilles dissolved in 2010, Curaçao became an independent country. When it was part of the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao was the only region in the group that could grant online gaming licenses.

The Curaçao online gaming industry is licensed and regulated under the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard. There are two ways to get an online gaming license in Curaçao.

The first is by acquiring a master license. Master licenses are granted by the Curaçao E-Gaming Licensing Authority. The license covers all product operators and software providers and game types.

The second method is by acquiring a sublicense. Sublicenses operate under the auspices of the master license. Hosting businesses may subdivide their existing gambling licenses for use by partner companies as well.

Sublicensees have the same rights as master licensees when it comes to operating an online gaming site, but they do not have rights to offer their own sublicenses.

Curaçao also offers a wide array of services for online gaming providers and operators, including custom dedicated servers, high-capacity private racks, private cloud services and other hosting options.

Not all activities require a Curaçao company formation. Forming a Curaçao company enables applicants to apply for an Ezone permit to take advantage of a special tax regime offering a net corporate income tax rate of 2%, 0% on gross bets through 2026, no import duties, no sales tax (turnover) and no VAT. The company must remain in annual compliance to maintain favorable tax treatment.