Estonia’s iGaming regime has hit an unexpected snag after a legislative wording error in the country’s revised Gambling Tax Act resulted in online casino operators being unintentionally exempted from paying their tax obligations at the start of 2026.
The issue dates back to amendments passed in late 2025 that were designed to modernise and gradually reduce the remote gambling tax rate. A drafting mistake saw the text apply taxation only to “skill games,” inadvertently excluding “games of chance,” the legal category covering online casino and other chance-based gambling. As a result, remote operators would have owed no tax at all for January and February 2026.
Quick legislative fix
Parliamentary members introduced a technical amendment to correct the wording, ensuring that both games of chance and skill games offered remotely are taxed uniformly at 5.5 per cent the rate set for 2026. The Riigikogu approved the change with an effective date of March 1, 2026, aligning with the monthly tax assessment cycles used by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (MTA).
Officials and lawmakers emphasised that the oversight was unintentional and not a deliberate policy shift, describing it as a “regrettable mistake” that required urgent correction to protect expected state revenues.
Budget implications and industry response
Because the law cannot be applied retroactively, the state faces a temporary gap in tax income for the first two months of the year, with estimates suggesting a multi-million euro shortfall.
In a rare twist, several licensed operators have indicated they will voluntarily transfer funds to the state – either as donations earmarked to replace the unpaid taxes or through other legal mechanisms – even though the law does not obligate them to do so.
What this means for operators
The incident underlines the importance of clear legislative drafting in regulated markets and could prompt closer scrutiny of future tax and regulatory reforms. With the correction now in place, Estonia’s online gambling tax framework is expected to remain on track – preserving funding for public programmes financed in part by gambling levy revenues.
The post Estonia scrambles to reinstate online gambling tax appeared first on G3 Newswire.
Estonia’s iGaming regime has hit an unexpected snag after a legislative wording error in the country’s revised Gambling Tax Act resulted in online casino operators being unintentionally exempted from paying their tax obligations at the start of 2026. The issue dates back to amendments passed in late 2025 that were designed to modernise and gradually…
The post Estonia scrambles to reinstate online gambling tax appeared first on G3 Newswire.