In Estonia, a ‘clerical error’ by the Ministry of Finance has unintentionally exempted online casino from the 2026 tax regime.

The matter was disclosed to Estonian news source ERR by committee member MP Aivar Kokk of the Isamaa party, who discovered that “games of chance and remote gambling were left out of this year’s taxation.”

The cause of the error was related to mistaken wording in articles that referred to the taxation of online casino as ‘skill games’, instead of the term of “games of chance”. The mistake effectively exempted online casinos from the 2026 tax plan.

At the close of 2025, the Riigikogu approved lowering tax on gambling licences from 6%-to-4% by 2028. The plan was hard fought dividing ranks across the coalition government of the Reform Party and Eesti 200.

Initiated as a Budget 2026 initiative, the tax plan will gradually reduce the tax rate on Estonian gambling licences from 6% to 4% by 0.5% annually, starting with 5.5% this year.

The Finance Committee responded by guaranteeing that the error will be fixed within a month and will have no impact on proceedings.

Estonian media was informed that a legal counsel from a gambling operator confirmed that the intent of the legislature was clear, and “the exemption is universally understood as a clerical error”, not a deliberate policy change.

Grand Plans

The lowering of gambling taxes forms part of the ‘economic pact’ between the Reform Party and Eesti 200, the two main parties of Estonia’s Liberal Pro-Europe coalition government – a mandate renegotiated at the beginning of 2025.  

Though the measure proved controversial among coalition ministers, the plan was approved under former PM Kaja Kallas, who viewed it as a means to stimulate foreign investment and enhance Estonia’s economic competitiveness in European IT and digital sectors.

By 2028, Estonia aims to establish a gambling tax framework comparable to Malta’s, positioning the Baltic state as a potential licensing hub for international iGaming firms — mirroring its earlier success in attracting crypto-based businesses.

Succeeded by PM Kristen Michal, the Liberal coalition maintains that the tax reform is an economic initiative, separate from amendments to the Estonian Gambling Act, and will not introduce any regulatory easing for consumer gambling activity.