Legislative Failure in Estonia: Online Casinos Accidentally Receive Tax Exemption

The Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) is forced to urgently correct a technical error in a law passed in December. Due to incorrect wording in the text of the document, the country’s online casinos have de jure been completely exempted from paying taxes for 2026, even though the government planned only a minor rate reduction.

The Essence of the “Million-Dollar Mistake”:

• The Plan: To reduce the tax rate for online casinos from 6% to 5.5%.
• The Reality: A clarification was included in the final version of Article 6 (paragraph 7), according to which the 5.5% rate applies exclusively to “games of skill.”
• The Result: Classic online casinos (slots, roulette, etc.) fell out of the scope of this article, leaving them with no prescribed tax burden for the current period.

Consequences for the Budget: According to expert estimates, the “hole” in the law could cost the state up to €22 million. These funds are traditionally directed toward supporting culture and sports, which now risk facing underfunding.

Reaction of the Authorities: Annely Akkermann, Chair of the Finance Committee, admitted that no one noticed the error: not the Ministry of Finance lawyers, nor the specialized committees, nor the President’s Chancellery.

“In my 12 years of work in the Riigikogu, this is the first such clerical typo in my bill,” she noted.

What’s Next?

• Accelerated Amendments: The Parliament plans to integrate the correction into another existing bill to restore the taxes within a month.
• A Question of Morality: Authorities hope that operators will show conscientiousness and pay taxes voluntarily for the “free” period, as it will be legally impossible to recover this money for the duration of the error.

The loophole in the law was discovered by a lawyer for one of the gambling operators, who himself notified the Finance Committee.

Sources: Official website of the Riigikogu, Err.ee (Estonian National Broadcasting)