From Betting Slips to State Budget: Improving Public Revenues from Games of Chance

Project duration: March 2026 – February 2028.

Call / Programme / Scheme: Bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Slovak Republic

Client / Financier: Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation

Participating institutions:

Institute of Economic Sciences

Institute of Economic Research of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Principal investigator (PI): dr. Jovan Zubović, Institute of Economic Sciences

The role of IEN in the project: IEN is a lead institution

IEN project team (manager/coordinator, team members) :

dr. Jovan Zubović (manager)

dr Kosovka Ognjenović

dr. Olivera Jovanović

dr. Boban Nedeljković

Description:

The project aims to strengthen evidence-based policymaking in the field of taxation of games of chance and the allocation of budget revenues generated from games of chance in Serbia and Slovakia. It combines analytical work, methodological exchange, and dialogue with decision-makers in order to improve the way taxation of games of chance is studied and discussed in both countries.

The main purpose of the project is to provide better knowledge about how the taxation of games of chance affects budget revenues and to examine how these revenues are allocated for public purposes. In particular, the project focuses on assessing the effects of taxation on activities related to games of chance, testing whether the analytical model developed in Slovakia can be adapted to Serbia, and evaluating how the system of earmarked revenues generated from games of chance functions in practice in Serbia, as well as whether this model can be adequately applied in Slovakia.

The project will contribute to strengthening analytical capacities in both institutions and will create a basis for developing practical recommendations for a more transparent and efficient allocation of budget revenues generated from games of chance in both countries.

Keywords: gambling taxation, demand elasticity estimation, allocation of tax revenues, policy transfer, bilateral cooperation