Pilot Program will allow Vietnamese citizens to gamble in casinos from Dec 2017

The Ministry of Finance has recently issued Circular 102/2017/TT-BTC guiding a number of articles of Decree No. 03/2017 on casino business.

Accordingly, those who want to play in a casino need to have documents to prove they are financially capable, which includes proofs that their income is being subject to at least grade-3 income tax as prescribed in the Law on personal income tax.

The proving documents include:

Certified copies of monthly income confirmation, monthly wage sheets or the confirmation of the player’s workplace in the last three months since the date of playing casino, all of which should indicate the monthly income of US$441 or more;

Certified copies of valid house lease contract and/or lease of property of the player, which shows the total monthly rental of US$441 or more; and

Certified copies of bank saving books and/or statements of bank deposit account of the player with a term of 01 year or more and monthly interest of US$441 or more.

The player may submit more than one document, as long as they can prove that the total regular income is US$441 a month or more.

Additional requirements for Vietnamese gamblers include:

Age 21 or older and fully capable of civil acts according to Vietnam’s laws;

Has bought a casino entrance ticket. The price of such ticket shall be about US$44 for 24 continuous hours/person or US$1,100/month/person; and

A Vietnamese citizen shall be banned from playing games at a casino if he/she:

Was charged with a criminal offence and the case is under investigation or adjudication by a Vietnamese or foreign proceeding agency;

Has a previous conviction for the infringement upon national security or other offences that carried a sentence of three years or more and the criminal record has not been expunged;

Is serving a suspended imprisonment sentence;

Is under probation or house arrest, or is serving time in a drug rehabilitation facility.