Online casinos in Estonia left without tax

In Estonia, due to a typo in the Gambling Tax Act adopted in December, online casinos were left without taxation in 2026, report, citing ERR News.

Error in the Gambling Tax Act

The law envisaged a gradual reduction of the remote gambling tax rate from 6% to 5.5%. However, due to the wording used in the document, the reduced rate was applied only to skill-based games.

At the same time, games of chance, which include online casinos, were not specified separately in the law, effectively leaving this segment without any tax burden for 2026.

How the error was discovered

The inaccuracy in the law was identified by a lawyer representing one of the iGaming operators. After reviewing the provisions that entered into force, it became clear that remote gambling had been excluded from the list of taxable activities.

Financial impact on the budget

According to estimates by Estonian MPs and members of профиль committees, potential losses to the state budget range from €10 million to €22 million.

Previously, revenue from the gambling tax was expected to be allocated to funding culture and sports.

Position of parliament representatives

Riina Sikkut, a member of the Riigikogu Finance Committee, stated that due to the error, the expected revenue for cultural and sports projects will not be received.

According to her, the tax exemption for online casinos was drafted in haste, and the final version of the law turned out to be legally flawed.

Criticism from the opposition

Statements by EKRE and the Centre Party

Martin Helme, chairman of the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia, described the law as corrupt and said that as a result of the mistake, online casinos retained tens of millions of euros.

Lauri Laats, vice-chairman of the Centre Party, described the situation as a sign of irresponsibility and pointed to direct budget losses already occurring this year.

Technical cause of the error

Wording in the law

The issue arose from the use of the term “skill-based games” without mentioning “games of chance” in the clause defining the tax rate.

As explained by MP Aivar Kokk, if both types of games had been included in the provision, online casinos would have continued to pay tax at the reduced rate.

Adoption and entry into force of the law

The amendments to the Gambling Tax Act were passed by parliament on December 3 and signed by the president on December 18.

Under the original plan, the tax rate was to be reduced by 0.5 percentage points per year down to 4%.