Estonia's Prosecutor's Office has determined that there are no grounds for initiating a criminal case regarding an error in the Gambling Tax Act amendment.
The office concluded that there is no need to identify individuals responsible for the oversight. The issue originated from a clerical error in amendments approved by the Riigikogu (the Parliament) in December, which mistakenly exempted online casinos from tax obligations starting at the beginning of this year.
In connection with the confusion surrounding the tax, two criminal complaints were submitted to the prosecutor’s office. Although lawmakers have since addressed the issue by correcting the legislation, the new provisions will not take effect until March.
Mart Helme, the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia, filed a request for an investigation into potential large-scale political corruption, influence peddling and fraud related to amendments to the Gambling Tax Act. Helme emphasised that the situation might not just be a simple drafting error. He suggested that lawmakers could have been misled before the final parliamentary vote.
According to his remarks, MPs were led to believe the amendment would cut the remote gambling tax from 6% to 5.5% in 2026, but its wording instead created a temporary full exemption. Helme stated: ''Even with the fast legislative action, the state loses at least two months of tax revenue, or about €4m. This money would remain with the entrepreneurs whose interests MPs acted in.''
He added: “Also, it is necessary to check whether the initiators of the bill received personal financial benefit or promises of financial benefit.”
Another complaint was submitted by businessman and politician Priit Toobal, who questioned whether parliamentarians had fulfilled their duty of due diligence when voting on the amendment. The prosecutor’s office confirmed that the complaints were reviewed but concluded that the circumstances did not meet the threshold for opening criminal proceedings.
In the meantime, several remote gambling operators voluntarily transferred nearly €500,000 ($588,900) to the Ministry of Finance of Estonia and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia after the legislative mistake temporarily removed them from the tax system.
Amendment to the Gambling Tax Act will reduce the current 6% tax rate by 0.5 percentage points each year until the rate reaches 4%
