Estonia advances gaming tax cut plans in bid to become “remote gambling paradise”
Ministers aim to make Estonia an alternative to Malta as a hub for online gambling in Europe.
Estonia.- The coalition government is advancing with a plan to reduce taxes on gambling in Estonia. The move is intended as an incentive to attract foreign investment amid rising fiscal pressures, with ministers envisaging Estonia as a potential competitor to Malta as hub for online gambling in Europe.
The Reform Party and Eesti 200, which form the current governing coalition, have initiated work on new fiscal plans as part of their 2023-2028 coalition pact. The parties have agreed to gradually reduce Estonian Remote Gambling Tax by 0.5 per cent a year, aiming for a final rate of 4 per cent by 2028. The move would revert last year’s gambling tax revision, which hiked Remote Gambling Tax from 5 to 6 per cent on net bets.
Drafting of the legislation is being led by Reform MP Madis Timpson, chair of the Legal Affairs Committee. “A remote gambling paradise is indeed what we could become,” he claimed, noting the current position of Malta. “Those people who are playing somewhere, I don’t know, in France, in Spain; their profits would come to us.”
Timpson said the move could benefit the government’s cultural development agenda drawn up under prime minister Kaja Kallas. This could include the funding of a new Olympic-grade sports hall, which is one of the objectives for a new national sports infrastructure fund to be developed with the Estonian Olympic Committee and supported by private fundraising.
A bill must still be presented to the Estonian parliament, the Riigikog, in order to implement the proposed gambling tax cut. There has been criticism from opposition parties, including the Centre Party.
Andrei Korobeinik, deputy chair of the Finance Committee, questioned the soundness of the proposals, arguing that international operators prioritise economic stability over marginal tax savings. “The initiators of the bill believed the lobbyists, who promised that if this tax rate is lowered, casinos and remote gambling service providers will come here. The reality is that no analysis has been carried out,” he argued.
However, the move may appeal to some operators as it goes against the current tide in Western Europe, where several countries, including France, Sweden and the Netherlands have hiked gambling tax in the past year. The Netherlands has another tax rise planned for January, and it’s widely expected that the UK chancellor Rachel Reeves may announce an increase on gambling tax in Britain in the autumn budget on November 26.
Kallas has expressed some support for the initiative while stressing that any increase in state revenue from gambling must be directed towards national priorities. Last year, she intervened to introduce new advertising and consumer protection measures for gambling licences, including a ban on celebrity endorsements and inducements such as “risk-free” bets.
In March, the Ministry of Finance announced plans to amend articles in Estonia’s Gambling Act of 2008 but ruled out stricter regulations as the government seeks to attract industry players.
