Court overrules Finland’s spin-by-spin online casino tax
The Finnish Tax Administration has been told it can’t treat each spin as a taxable event.
Finland.- The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland has reportedly struck down the spin‑by‑spin tax applied to online slot games hosted outside the European Economic Area. According to the Helsinki-based business publication Taloustaito, the ruling means the Finnish Tax Administration must abandon its practice of treating every individual spin as a taxable event for operators.
The original policy was targeted at operators based in international jurisdictions such as Curaçao when they take bets from people in Finland despite not being licensed locally. Finland currently has a state monopoly over regulated online gambling via Veikkaus, although the licensing process is currently underway ahead of a market opening scheduled for July 2027.
The court ruled against the tax framework by a narrow 3‑2 majority. The move means the Tax Administration will need to revise its policies to align with the court’s interpretation.
Miika Härkönen, a lawyer with the Finnish Taxpayers’ Association, welcomed the outcome, citing the court’s rejection of the view that each game should not be examined as a completely separate event as a key ruling.
Industry figures also reacted positively. Writing on LinkedIn, Antti Koivula, Chief Compliance Officer at Hippos ATG, described the earlier stance as “absurd.”
He said: “Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court has partly reined in the Tax Administration’s absurd spin‑by‑spin approach to taxing online slot games operated outside the EEA. The Court held that taxable income must instead be determined for each session of play. However, losses from one session cannot be offset against profits from another, meaning that a slot player may still lose money overall while owing considerable tax. It is worth noting that a separate but related ruling on professional sports betting is expected any day now.”
Meanwhile, some industry figures continue to question some of the measures presented by the government for the new regulatory framework for online gambling in Finland. Some argue that the cooling-off period and ban on affiliates would harm market channelisation.
