Estonia iGaming operators voluntarily paid €1.4 million

In Estonia, iGaming operators exempted from taxes due to a legislative error voluntarily transferred more than €1.4 million to the Ministry of Finance as of March 18, reported ERR.

Voluntary payments by operators

Companies operating in the online gambling segment began transferring funds to the Ministry of Finance as voluntary contributions.

This situation arose because tax obligations for 2026 effectively amounted to zero due to an error in the legislation.

Amounts by month

In February, around €815,000 was received (including income tax), and in March about €595,000.

According to the ministry, some operators plan to transfer payments covering two months at once, so additional contributions are expected.

Estimation of tax revenues

According to the Ministry of Finance, the tax amount for January and February without the error would have been approximately €3.5 million.

This figure is lower than the initial estimate of €4 million.

Annual forecast

According to budget projections, revenue from online gambling tax could reach around €27 million for the year.

These expectations are based on operator declarations and the current flow of incoming payments.

Reason for the tax situation change

Amendments to the Gambling Tax Act were approved by the parliament in December 2025.

In January, it became known that the law contained an error, which resulted in the 2026 gambling tax effectively being zero.

Legislative correction

The error was corrected in February after amendments were made to the law.

Until then, operators had no formal obligation to pay the tax.

Additional allocation details

According to declarations, part of the revenue was intended for the Cultural Endowment (KULKA).

For January, this amount was estimated at approximately €778,000, and February inflows have already covered this figure.