Legislative typo may exempt Estonian gambling operators from tax in 2026

Government officials in Estonia are in a hurry to correct legislation that has left gambling taxes at 0% for the duration of 2026. 

A new gambling tax bill was approved last December with the intention of lowering the tax rate from 6% to 5.5%. 

However, a wording error introduced via a bill of amendment refers to “skill games” instead of “games of chance.” 

The error was identified by a gambling operator and officials have confirmed that the wording unintentionally excludes games of chance and remote gambling. 

Estonian Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi has distanced himself from the mistake, placing the blame at the door of the Riigikogu, the nation’s Parliament. 

The Riigikogu has now quickly introduced a bill to amend the error so as to ensure the Government does not lose out fiscally. 

A new amendment could correct the error for February and Annely Akkermann, Chair of the Riigikogu Finance Committee has batted the blame back towards the Finance Ministry, saying: “The error occurred during the Ministry of Finance's editing of the gambling tax bill. We're fixing that now.” 

According Tanel Tein, lead sponsor of the bill, businesses have indicated an intent to cooperate with the Government, saying: “The Estonian Association of Gambling Operators and its member companies have indicated that they do not intend to take advantage of the current situation and will continue paying the tax as before. That's an important signal.”