Belgium: gambling regulation and licensing

Belgium licenses online gambling only as an extension of a land-based business. Under the Gaming Act of 7 May 1999 the Gaming Commission may grant the holder of a casino (A), gaming hall (B) or betting (F1) licence one supplementary online licence, A+, B+ or F1+, for games of the same kind it offers on the ground, with servers in Belgium. At the end of 2025 there were 9 A+, 48 B+ and 22 F1+ licences. Public lotteries are a National Lottery monopoly under a separate law. Online games and bets are taxed at 11% of gross margin in all three regions, and since 2024 that tax cannot be deducted for income tax. Player protection is among the strictest in Europe: a minimum age of 21 for all gambling under the Act since September 2024, a default deposit cap of EUR 200 a week that can be raised only after a check against the National Bank credit register, compulsory checks against the EPIS exclusion register, a ban on bonuses and a general advertising ban with narrow exceptions. The licensed online market produced EUR 964.5 million of gross gaming revenue in 2025, up 5.4%, while new online players fell 43% to 110,032. The Commission moved from the Justice ministry to the FPS Economy on 1 June 2026. The main pressure now comes from the Constitutional Court. It found the age limit, the bonus ban and the advertising ban discriminatory because they do not reach the National Lottery online games, annulled the ban on combining online licences on one domain, and gave Parliament until 31 December 2026 to act.

Regulator

Gaming Commission (KSC / CJH)

Regulator type

Dedicated regulator

Headline tax

11% GGR

Licence required

Yes

Minimum age

21+

Tax base

Regional tax on games and bets. Online games and bets are taxed at 11% of the real gross margin: stakes placed less winnings actually paid. The rate is the same in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region.

Capital

Brussels

Currency

EUR

Official languages

Dutch, French, German

Built from the record on this page, last verified 24 Sept 2026. The Licensing and Taxation sections carry the full detail and sources.

Licence required

Yes

Application window

Not yet verified

Local establishment required

Yes

Local server required

Yes

Active licences

79 (as of 31 Dec 2025)

Bank guarantee or bond

A guarantee in cash or securities lodged with the Deposit and Consignment Office before operation: EUR 250,000 for A+, EUR 75,000 for B+ and EUR 75,000 for F1+ (art. 71).

Certification requirements

Applicants must meet the quality conditions of the royal decrees under art. 43/8 (creditworthiness, payment security, access policy for vulnerable groups, complaints handling, tax compliance), and the servers holding the data and site must be in a permanent establishment in Belgium (art. 43/8, para. 2, 3°).

Barriers to entry

An online licence is only available to the holder of the matching land-based licence, and land-based numbers are capped: 9 casinos (art. 29) and 180 gaming halls (art. 34). International operators enter through a Belgian licensee. The 79 online licences at 31 December 2025 were 9 A+, 48 B+ and 22 F1+.

Headline GGR tax

11% GGR

Effective date

Not yet verified

Tax base

Regional tax on games and bets. Online games and bets are taxed at 11% of the real gross margin: stakes placed less winnings actually paid. The rate is the same in Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region.

Minimum age

21+

National self-exclusion

EPIS (Excluded Persons Information System) (mandatory)

KYC timing

Before any play

AML regime

Licensed gambling operators are obliged entities under the Anti-Money Laundering Law of 18 September 2017 (art. 5, para. 1, 33°).

AML supervisor

Gaming Commission (art. 85, para. 1, 13°, AML Law)

Deposit limits

Mandatory limit of EUR 200 a week loaded to online player accounts, which the player can lower at once. A higher limit takes effect after three days and only if the Commission finds the player is not a registered defaulter in the National Bank credit register; the check is repeated monthly (Royal Decree of 25 October 2018, art. 6).

Affordability checks

Credit register check by the Commission before any deposit limit above EUR 200 a week is allowed.

Data localisation

Servers holding the data and website must be in a permanent establishment on Belgian territory (Gaming Act, art. 43/8, para. 2, 3°).

KYC requirements

Licensees must identify every player with a valid identity document, verify that it belongs to the person and check that the person is not barred under art. 54; access is refused where there is doubt (art. 54/1, in force 1 May 2025).

Stake limits

Not yet verified

Mandatory player messaging

Operators must inform players of the risks through notifications and pop-ups and offer temporary self-exclusion (Royal Decree of 25 October 2018, art. 6).

Game content restrictions

Online games must be of the same kind as the licensee offers in the land-based establishment (art. 43/8, para. 1). Free play, play credit and any benefit to influence play or to recruit or retain players are banned (art. 60).

Advertising permitted

No

Affiliate rules

Only licence holders may advertise, and only in the permitted forms; paying a third party to advertise on an operator's own website or social accounts is not allowed. Advertising or recruiting players for unlicensed gambling is an offence (Gaming Act, art. 4, para. 2).

Sponsorship rules

Since 1 January 2025 sponsorship at the place where sport is played is no longer allowed, and shirt sponsorship is limited to a brand name or logo of up to 75 square centimetres, not on the front, and not on players under 21 (transitional rule to 31 December 2027). From 1 January 2028 sponsorship of professional sports clubs ends; non-professional clubs may still carry a logo of up to 50 square centimetres.

Celebrity and influencer rules

Advertising may not depict real people or fictional characters, or use the voices of well-known people or characters (art. 17 of the 2023 decree); the transitional exemption for pre-existing contracts ended on 31 December 2024.

Social media rules

Only on the operator's own social media accounts, for its own products, without interaction or paid third parties, and with video of 5 seconds or less (2023 decree, art. 12).

Bonus advertising rules

Free play, play credit and any benefit offered to influence play or to recruit or retain players are prohibited (Gaming Act, art. 60).

Mandatory warnings

Every advertisement must show the minimum age and a prevention message; unless ministers set other terms, the message is "Gokken kan verslavend zijn. Stop op tijd! Meer info op www.stopoptijd.be", in type at least 4% of the ad height and 7 points (2023 decree, arts. 19, 20 and 25).

Penalties for breach

Breaches of the advertising rules are offences under art. 64 (level 1 penalty, fine up to EUR 576,000 since 1 September 2026) and can lead to administrative fines, suspension or withdrawal of the licence. In 2025 the Commission found 84 breaches in 580 checks and sent 46 criminal reports to prosecutors.

Credit card ban

Yes

Crypto stance

Not yet verified

ISP blocking

Yes

DNS blocking

Not yet verified

Payment blocking

Not yet verified

App store takedowns

Not yet verified

Blocklist size

878 (as of 17 Sept 2026)

Administrative penalties

Warnings, suspension or withdrawal of the licence and operating bans (art. 15/2); administrative fines within the statutory criminal range, which extinguish prosecution (art. 15/3).

Criminal penalties

Since 1 September 2026, operating without a licence is a level 1 offence with a fine of up to EUR 960,000 (art. 63); participating in, facilitating, advertising or recruiting for unlicensed gambling up to EUR 576,000 (art. 64); penalties may be doubled for repeat offences within five years or offences involving under-21s (art. 65).

Operator liability

Sites offering games in Belgium without a licence are placed on a blacklist published in the Official Gazette and passed to internet providers for blocking (art. 43/8, para. 4). Since 15 December 2025 a cooperation agreement with DNS Belgium allows .be domains to be suspended and redirected to the Commission warning page.

Player liability

Knowingly taking part in unlicensed gambling is prohibited (art. 4, para. 2) and punishable under art. 64.

Figures on this record are drawn from official regulator data.

Online GGR

€964,463,302 as of 31 Dec 2025

Reporting year

2025

Year-on-year growth

5.41%

1. 30 Dec 1999

   Gaming Act of 7 May 1999 published; the Gaming Commission is created

2. 1 Jan 2011

   Supplementary online licences A+, B+ and F1+ take effect

3. 1 Jul 2023

   Royal Decree on advertising for games of chance enters into force

4. 1 Jan 2024

   Tax on games and bets becomes non-deductible for income tax

5. 1 Sept 2024

   Minimum age of 21 applies to all games of chance under the Act

6. 1 Jan 2025

   Sponsorship at sports venues ends; shirt logos limited to 75 square centimetres

7. 1 May 2025

   Duty to identify players and check EPIS before play takes effect

8. 11 Dec 2025

   Constitutional Court ruling 165/2025 annuls the online cumulation ban and sets a 31 December 2026 deadline

9. 15 Dec 2025

   Cooperation agreement with DNS Belgium on illegal .be gambling domains

10. 16 Apr 2026

    Constitutional Court ruling 45/2026 on EPIS checks

11. 1 Jun 2026

    Gaming Commission transferred to the FPS Economy

12. 31 Aug 2026

    Council of State suspends the Brussels casino concession award

13. 1 Sept 2026

    Gaming Act penalties recast under the new Penal Code

14. 16 Sept 2026

    Gaming Commission publishes its 2025 annual report

15. 31 Dec 2026

    Deadline for Parliament to cure the unconstitutionalities

16. 1 Jan 2028

    Sponsorship of professional sports clubs ends

Parliament has until 31 December 2026 to cure the unequal treatment of the National Lottery found in Constitutional Court rulings 165/2025 and 45/2026, and to replace the annulled ban on combining online licences, whose effects lapse at the latest on that date. Bill 56K0096, which would apply the age of 21, an advertising ban and EPIS checks to the Lottery, is pending in the Justice committee. EPIS checks must be extended to bars by the end of 2027. The transitional 75 square centimetre shirt rule expires on 31 December 2027 and sponsorship of professional clubs ends on 1 January 2028. Seventeen Council of State appeals against the 2023 advertising decree were still pending at the end of 2025. The Council of State has suspended the award of the Brussels casino concession, one of the nine casino concessions to which A+ online licences are tied.

Who regulates online gambling in Belgium?

The Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie), under the Gaming Act of 7 May 1999. Since 1 June 2026 it sits within the FPS Economy rather than the FPS Justice. Public lotteries are a National Lottery monopoly outside the Act.

Can a foreign operator get a Belgian online licence?

Only through a land-based licence. A+, B+ and F1+ licences can be held only by the holder of a casino, gaming hall or betting licence, with servers in Belgium. There were 79 online licences at the end of 2025.

What is the online gambling tax in Belgium?

The regions tax online games and bets at 11% of the real gross margin, meaning stakes less winnings paid. The rate is the same in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, and since 1 January 2024 the tax is not deductible for income tax.

What is the minimum age and are there deposit limits?

The minimum age is 21 for all games of chance under the Act since 1 September 2024 (18 for National Lottery games). Online deposits are capped at EUR 200 a week unless the Commission approves a higher limit after a credit register check.

Can licensed operators advertise?

Only in the forms the 2023 royal decree allows: own website and own social accounts without interaction or paid third parties, brand-only paid search, and small shirt logos. Every ad needs an age indication and a prevention message. Sponsorship of professional clubs ends on 1 January 2028.

What is changing next?

Parliament must by 31 December 2026 align the rules for the National Lottery online games with those for licensed operators and replace the annulled ban on combining online licences, following Constitutional Court rulings 165/2025 and 45/2026.

How much does a gambling licence cost in Belgium?

For the A+ supplementary licence (online casino games), the annual fee is €12,698 (as of 1 Jan 2026). For the B+ supplementary licence (online gaming hall games), the annual fee is €12,698 (as of 1 Jan 2026). For the F1+ supplementary licence (online betting), the annual fee is €14,493 (as of 1 Jan 2026). The Licensing section lists all 5 licence types recorded for Belgium. Last verified 24 Sept 2026.

Is online gambling legal in Belgium?

Online casino and online sports betting are both legal for licensed operators in Belgium. The status of every vertical is at the top of this page. Last verified 24 Sept 2026.

• Netherlands
• France
• Luxembourg
• Germany

Regulatory

21 Oct 2026

ANJ-Funded Study Finds 39% of French Teenagers Play Gambling-Style Games but Cannot Prove a Gateway

A survey of 5,000 French 15 to 17-year-olds funded by the Autorité Nationale des Jeux finds that teenagers who play both gambling-style video games and real-money games score far worse on problem gambling than those who only gamble. It shows an association and a sequence, not a cause, and its authors say so.

Regulatory

19 Oct 2026

Trinidad and Tobago's Senate Votes to Raise the Gambling Age to 25, Online Play Included

The Senate has passed a bill that would make it an offence for anyone under 25 to gamble "by any method, electronic or otherwise", in a country that is about to license online gambling for the first time. The House still has to agree the Senate's amendments, and no start date has been set.

Regulatory

9 Oct 2026

KSA Calls Out 711 for Making Some Players Wager Their Deposits Before Withdrawing

The Dutch regulator says 711 required customers paying by methods other than an ordinary bank account to stake deposited money at least once before cashing it out, and called the practice highly undesirable. There is no fine, and no figure for how many players were affected; it is the third public round of this kind since the KSA warned operators in March 2024.

Regulatory

6 Oct 2026

Bulgaria Notifies Brussels of Its Full Gambling Ad Ban, With a 22% Online Fee and a €100,000 Monthly Floor

Bulgaria notified the European Commission of its draft Gambling Act amendments on 2 October, closing the procedural gap that left Lithuania's promotion ban unenforceable. The text, still out to consultation and not yet before parliament, would end affiliate licences in January and charge online operators at least €100,000 a month.

Prediction Markets

2 Oct 2026

Czechia Adds Kalshi to Its Gambling Blocklist, 11 Weeks After Polymarket

The Ministry of Finance has listed kalshi.com as a site offering prohibited gambling, and internet providers must block it by 15 October. The order covers the website only, but it puts the largest US prediction market on the same footing in Czechia as an unlicensed online casino.

M&A

28 Sept 2026

Gaming1 Buys Carousel's Parent Pac-Man NV, Adding a Scarce Belgian Online Licence

The Liège group has bought 100% of the company behind Carousel.be, its partner since 2012, taking over a B+ online licence and the gaming hall in Harelbeke that Belgian law requires behind it. The price is undisclosed, and the sellers are keeping the 711 brand that grew out of Carousel.

Regulatory

23 Sept 2026

Bulgaria's Government Proposes a "Practically Full" Gambling Advertising Ban and Higher Online Tax

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Wednesday that draft amendments to the Gambling Act would leave sports sponsorship as the only permitted form of gambling advertising, raise the levy on online gambling substantially and connect every gaming machine to the tax authority in real time. The texts go to public consultation first.

Regulatory

17 Sept 2026

Belgium's First-Time Online Gamblers Fell 43% in 2025 as Revenue Rose to €965m

The Gaming Commission's annual report shows a market growing on the players it already has and struggling to recruit new ones since the age limit rose to 21. Self-exclusions are up, land-based visits are down a quarter, and the operators' association says 28% of 18 to 30-year-olds have already gambled on an illegal site.

Corporate

16 Sept 2026

European Lotteries Take Their €29.4bn to Brussels as a Democracy Argument

A roundtable on the International Day of Democracy concluded that protecting the "European lottery model" is a matter of civil society, not sectoral interest. The figure is from March; the framing is new, and it is aimed at the institutions that decide what the model is allowed to be.

All 20 articles on Belgium →

Source tiers. Tier 1: the law, official gazette, licence register or regulator itself. Tier 2: other official sources such as ministries, parliaments, courts and statistics agencies. Only tier 1 and tier 2 sources can support a fact on their own.

1. Wet van 7 mei 1999 op de kansspelen, de weddenschappen, de kansspelinrichtingen en de bescherming van de spelers (consolidated text, updated to 19 May 2026)

   Belgisch Staatsblad, Justel databank (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 30 Dec 1999
2. Wet van 30 april 2026 tot wijziging van de wet van 7 mei 1999 met het oog op de overdracht van de kansspelcommissie en van de bevoegdheid inzake kansspelen naar de FOD Economie

   Belgisch Staatsblad (FOD Justitie)

   The Gaming Commission annual report for 2025 refers to this transfer as the law of 17 April 2026. The Official Gazette gives the law as dated 30 April 2026, published 19 May 2026, in force 1 June 2026; the Gazette is recorded.

   Tier 1Accessed 24 Sept 2026Published 19 May 2026
3. Koninklijk besluit van 25 oktober 2018 betreffende de voorwaarden voor het uitbaten van kansspelen en weddenschappen via informatiemaatschappij-instrumenten (consolidated text)

   Belgisch Staatsblad, Justel databank (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
4. Koninklijk besluit van 27 februari 2023 tot bepaling van de nadere regels betreffende de reclame voor de kansspelen (consolidated text)

   Belgisch Staatsblad, Justel databank (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 8 Mar 2023
5. Koninklijk besluit van 11 maart 2026 betreffende de bijdrage in de werkings-, personeels- en oprichtingskosten van de Kansspelcommissie voor het burgerlijk jaar 2026

   Belgisch Staatsblad (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 13 Mar 2026
6. Koninklijk besluit van 19 juli 2001 tot vaststelling van de lijst van de kansspelen waarvan de exploitatie is toegelaten in de kansspelinrichtingen klasse I (consolidated text)

   Belgisch Staatsblad, Justel databank (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
7. Wet van 19 april 2002 tot rationalisering van de werking en het beheer van de Nationale Loterij (consolidated text)

   Belgisch Staatsblad, Justel databank (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 4 May 2002
8. Wet van 18 september 2017 tot voorkoming van het witwassen van geld en de financiering van terrorisme en tot beperking van het gebruik van contanten (consolidated text, updated to 28 July 2026), arts. 5 and 85

   Belgisch Staatsblad, Justel databank (FOD Justitie)

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
9. Grondwettelijk Hof, arrest nr. 165/2025 van 11 december 2025 (law of 18 February 2024: age 21, bonus ban, advertising ban, cumulation ban)

   Grondwettelijk Hof, published in the Belgisch Staatsblad

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 10 Feb 2026
10. Grondwettelijk Hof, arrest nr. 45/2026 van 16 april 2026 (law of 7 May 2024: identification and EPIS checks)

    Grondwettelijk Hof, published in the Belgisch Staatsblad

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 30 Jun 2026
11. Grondwettelijk Hof, arrest nr. 132/2025 van 23 oktober 2025 (non-deductibility of the gaming and betting tax, law of 28 December 2023)

    Grondwettelijk Hof, published in the Belgisch Staatsblad

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 1 Dec 2025
12. Grondwettelijk Hof, arrest nr. 150/2025 van 27 november 2025 (non-deductibility of the gaming and betting tax, further appeals)

    Grondwettelijk Hof, published in the Belgisch Staatsblad

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 19 Jan 2026
13. Casino van Brussel: schorsing van de exploitatieconcessie (arrest nr. 267.514 van 31 augustus 2026)

    Raad van State

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 31 Aug 2026
14. Kansspelcommissie, Jaarverslag 2025

    Kansspelcommissie (Belgian Gaming Commission)

    Tier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 16 Sept 2026
15. Lijst illegale goksites geblokkeerd door de KSC (latest decision 17 September 2026)

    Kansspelcommissie (Belgian Gaming Commission)

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
16. Gaming Commission: about the regulator

    Kansspelcommissie (Belgian Gaming Commission)

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
17. Hoeveel bedraagt de belasting op spelen en weddenschappen?

    Vlaamse Belastingdienst (Vlaanderen.be)

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
18. Payer la taxe sur les jeux et paris en Wallonie (TJP)

    Service public de Wallonie

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
19. Belasting op de spelen en weddenschappen (Brussels-Capital Region)

    FOD Financiën

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
20. Parlementair document 56K0096: wetsvoorstel tot wijziging van de wet van 19 april 2002 (reclame, leeftijd en toegangscontrole voor loterijspelen)

    Kamer van volksvertegenwoordigers

    Tier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 14 Aug 2024
21. RD advertising: interpretation of the Royal Decree on advertising for games of chance

    Kansspelcommissie, Belgian Gaming Commission

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 1 Jul 2023
22. Belgian Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie / Commission des jeux de hasard)

    Belgian Gaming Commission

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026