The (i)gaming heaven called Malta

Malta is home to hundreds of igaming companies, but what makes it so perfect for the gaming industry? If you asked me personally, I'd say that at least in Europe, it's a country with one of the best weather (other countries I could include in this list are Greece, Canaries [well, not actually a country], Portugal, Cyprus) and that makes it easier to get the foreign employees over there. Also the prices are pretty good, as long as we don't add the rents (which are becoming increasingly high) into the mix.

Besides the things I mentioned, obviously igaming companies are not looking at weather as much as me probably, from their perspective the weather might not be in the top of the list at all. Since the online gambling industry started seeing strong growth and Malta started granting gambling licenses to online gambling operators, the country itself has experienced a strong economic growth. And with the growth, especially as the gaming legislation and the Income Tax Act was written specifically with international companies in mind, Malta is now EU's number four corporate tax haven according to Oxfam International. And while it might not sound too good looking in from the other side, that works for the igaming companies well.

For employees, the taxes are also on the lower side. The taxation of an individual's income is progressive, which means that the higher your income, the higher tax bracket you belong to. For example, your tax rate, if you earn less than 9100 euros a year, is zero, while if you earned 60 000 and more it would be 35%. If you earned between 14500 and 19500, the rate would be 25%.

Why does Malta offer such good business environment for the igaming industry?
To answer that question, you don't need to search from far. Right now, in 2017, the gaming industry is responsible for roughly 12 percent of GDP, and contributes around €1.2 billion to the Maltese economy.

If you're a fan of gaming, but don't really want to work in the sector, you can just choose to play (as long as you're capable of doing it responsibly). Whatever your chosen game is. Poker, casino games (true gambling, I'd say), or your interest may mainly lie in looking up where to buy powerball tickets (something I consider a game of luck, and some people can be very lucky).