How iGaming pays salaries: crypto, sole proprietorship, invoices

“How much does it pay” is the first question a candidate asks. “How exactly does it pay” is the second, and that one determines how much money actually reaches your card. An offer of €3 500 can turn into €2 200 take-home, or into €3 400. The difference isn’t the operator’s generosity but the legal structure you’re hired under. We break down all four formats: what they look like in practice, who pays the taxes, what happens with pension and insurance, and where each of them breaks down.

Four payment formats: a quick map

Next, the details for each — the ones that get candidates into trouble.

Employment contract with a local legal entity

The classic for office roles in Malta, Cyprus, Poland and Romania. The company puts you on the staff of its licensed legal entity, withholds income tax and social contributions, and pays the employer’s share on your behalf. The offer, however, most often states gross — and that’s the main trap in correspondence with a recruiter.

• Malta. Progressive income tax with a top band of 35%, plus a social contribution of about 10% from the employee and the same from the employer. For some roles in licensed gaming there’s a preferential regime for highly qualified professionals with a flat rate — it isn’t granted to everyone or automatically, and you have to secure it in the offer.
• Cyprus. A tax-free allowance of €19 500, then bands up to 35%, and social insurance of around 8.8% from the employee. For new tax residents with a high salary part of the income is exempt — in practice this noticeably raises net pay for senior roles.
• Poland. Umowa o pracę: PIT 12% and 32% above the threshold, ZUS about 13.7% from the employee. Net is roughly 70–72% of gross — the most predictable and the most “expensive” option.

What you get for these percentages: paid holiday, sick leave, health insurance, pension contributions, severance pay and a residence permit tied to the job. For relocating with a family there’s essentially no alternative to an employment contract — schools, nurseries and a spouse’s residence permit all hinge on it. We covered how this works in specific hubs in our articles about working in Cyprus and working in Malta.

Contractor and B2B on invoice

You register a company or a sole proprietorship in your jurisdiction and issue an invoice once a month — usually to the operator’s Cypriot or Maltese legal entity. The format is standard for remote work: development, analytics, affiliate management, media buying.

The mechanics are simple: a services agreement, an acceptance certificate or invoice, a transfer to the sole proprietor’s account. Taxes and contributions are entirely your responsibility, holiday isn’t paid and neither is sick leave. Termination is 30 days, and in half of contracts 14. On the plus side, the range usually states net rather than gross, and the money arrives as a single sum.

Sole proprietorship in Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan

The most popular setup among Russian-speaking candidates working remotely. The logic is the same everywhere: you pay tax not on profit but on turnover, at a low rate.

• Georgia. A sole proprietor with small business status pays 1% of turnover up to 500 000 GEL a year (roughly €160K), and 3% above the threshold. The status isn’t automatic: you have to apply for it separately and confirm it with monthly declarations. Without it the standard rate of 20% applies.
• Armenia. A sole proprietor on the turnover tax pays around 5% of revenue, and there’s a separate preferential threshold for micro-businesses. The rate is higher than in Georgia, but the banking infrastructure for receiving payments from the EU has traditionally been less jumpy.
• Kazakhstan. The simplified regime — about 3% of turnover plus mandatory social and pension payments, which are calculated on declared income rather than turnover.

Two pitfalls. The first is tax residency: a sole proprietorship in Tbilisi doesn’t cancel your obligations in the country where you physically live for more than 183 days a year. The second is currency control and bank compliance: Georgian and Armenian banks regularly ask for the contract and proof of source of funds, and the word gambling in the payment reference can hold up a transfer for a week. More on the local market in our piece on iGaming in Georgia.

Salary in USDT: when it’s normal and when it’s a flag

Crypto isn’t exotic in the industry. USDT is used to pay affiliate teams, media buyers, some product studios and almost everyone who works with grey markets. Technically it’s convenient: the transfer takes a minute, with no banks or currency control, and the network fee is a few cents.

The problem isn’t legality but provability. For the tax authority a wallet-to-wallet transfer is income in a crypto asset that you must declare yourself at the rate on the date of receipt. For a bank, a visa officer or a mortgage manager it isn’t income at all: nobody issues a salary certificate from the blockchain. Add exchange-rate risk when cashing out via P2P and an exchanger’s fee of 1–3%.

How the money reaches you

The payment route costs money, and usually nobody calculates it in advance.

• SEPA to a European account — free or nearly free, the best option if you have an EU account.
• Wise and Payoneer — 0.5–1.5% plus the conversion spread. They accept payments to companies and sole proprietors, but gambling operators are a higher risk for them: you may be asked to back up the account with documents.
• SWIFT to a sole proprietor’s account in Georgia or Armenia — a fixed €15–40 plus the correspondent bank’s fee; the money takes 1–3 days.
• USDT followed by P2P — fast, but 1–3% on the exchange and questions about the source of funds for large sums.

Operators with an MGA or UKGC licence practically never use Russian or Belarusian accounts: compliance won’t let the payment through. This isn’t about politics — it’s that refusing is cheaper for a licensee than explaining itself to the regulator.

What to ask for in the contract

1. The contract currency and the payment currency. A rate in euros but a transfer in USDT at an “internal rate” is a hidden minus of 2–3% every month.
2. A specific payment date. “Within the month following the reporting month” means the 30th and constant delays. You need a date: the 5th, the 10th.
3. Who bears the fees. The wording “all bank charges are borne by the client” saves €20–40 a month and ends disputes over missing cents.
4. Rate review. At least once a year, tied to the performance review. Without this clause indexation won’t happen by itself.
5. The bonus part in writing. How it’s calculated, which metric it’s based on, when it’s paid and what happens if you leave mid-quarter.

What this means in money

Let’s take middle-level roles with real ranges from the board. A CRM manager in Malta or Cyprus earns €3 200–4 400 gross, leaving roughly €2 300–3 100 take-home after taxes and contributions. The same CRM manager working remotely as a sole proprietor in Georgia earns €2 000–2 900, but that’s already net, minus 1% tax. An affiliate manager: €3 300–4 500 gross in the office versus €2 000–3 000 net remote; an AML officer — €3 500–4 800 versus €2 200–3 200. The take-home gap turns out much smaller than the gap in the advertised figures, and that’s exactly why remote work as a sole proprietor stays competitive.

Ranges for 35 roles and three regions are in the directory of professions, and live offers with the employment format stated are in the vacancies.

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