Gambling Tax Rates by Country: How Online Gambling Is Taxed

Gaming tax is the largest single cost of being a licensed gambling operator and the policy lever governments reach for first. This guide explains how the tax is structured (what is taxed, at what rate, on what base), gives the bands by region so that a country's rate can be placed in context, covers the taxes on players, the layers beneath the headline, and the direction of travel. It gives bands and the well-known reference rates rather than a table of every country, because rates change every budget cycle; the regulatory map tracks each jurisdiction and the regulator's or tax authority's site is the source for the current figure.

The base: revenue or turnover

The most important design choice is what is taxed.

Gross gaming revenue (GGR). Stakes minus winnings paid out: what the operator keeps. Most modern regimes tax GGR, because it reflects the operator's actual economic activity and treats high-margin and low-margin products proportionately.

Turnover (stakes). A percentage of every bet placed, whatever the result. Simple to collect and ruinous for low-margin products: a sportsbook running a 5% margin cannot pay a 5% turnover tax, and a 1% turnover tax is a fifth of its revenue. Turnover taxes survive in some markets (Germany's 5.3% on online slots and sports stakes, Poland's 12% on sports stakes, and levies in several African and Asian markets) and are the main reason those markets channel poorly.

Hybrids and product splits. Different rates by product (casino higher than sports in many markets), deductions for bonuses (allowed in some, not others, which changes the effective rate substantially), and caps or tiers.

Net gaming revenue. A few regimes tax GGR after bonuses; most do not, which is why operators track bonus cost as a share of GGR so closely.

The bands, by region

United Kingdom. Remote gaming duty at 21% of GGR for casino, general betting duty at 15% for sports, pool betting duty at 15%, with the government having consulted on consolidating and raising the remote rates. Plus a statutory levy on GGR for research, prevention and treatment introduced in 2025.

Western and Northern Europe. Denmark 28% of GGR; Sweden 22%; the Netherlands raised to 34.2% in 2025 with a further rise legislated; Belgium 11% of GGR for online with VAT considerations; Spain 20% of GGR; Portugal a sliding scale on GGR for casino and a turnover-based tax on sports that was reformed; France taxes stakes and GGR through a set of levies that make it among the highest effective rates in Europe; Italy 25% of GGR for online casino and 24.5% for online sports after its 2024 reform, plus concession fees; Germany the turnover taxes above plus a GGR tax for online poker and casino tables; Ireland 2% on betting turnover plus GGR-based taxes for gaming under its new regulator; Switzerland a steep progressive GGR tax.

Central and Eastern Europe. Poland's turnover tax on sports and state monopoly on casino; Czechia 30% of GGR for most online products after increases; Romania 21% of GGR plus licence fees and a tax on player winnings; Bulgaria 20% of GGR; Greece 35% of GGR; Hungary and Croatia with their own scales.

Malta, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Alderney. Low gaming taxes (Malta a 5% gaming tax on revenue from Maltese customers plus compliance contributions; Gibraltar a low GGR rate with a cap; Isle of Man a sliding scale from 1.5%) because these are licensing hubs whose customers are mostly elsewhere.

United States. State by state on GGR: single digits (Nevada 6.75%, Iowa 6.75%) through the teens and twenties (New Jersey 13% for sports and 15% for casino, Michigan 8.4% sports and a sliding scale to 28% for casino, Colorado 10%) to the top (Pennsylvania 36% for sports and 54% for slots, New York 51% for online sports, Illinois graduated to 40% plus a per-bet fee, New Hampshire and Rhode Island 51% under lottery models). Deductibility of promotional credits varies and changes the effective rate. Federal excise of 0.25% on sports betting handle sits on top.

Canada. Ontario's 20% revenue share to iGaming Ontario in place of a gaming tax; Crown-corporation provinces have no operator tax as such.

Latin America. Brazil 12% of GGR plus corporate and service taxes and a 15% player winnings tax; Colombia's concession right on GGR raised to 15% with a VAT on deposits introduced and contested; Peru 12% of net win plus a consumption tax on bets; Argentina provincial GGR taxes plus a federal online betting tax; Mexico a federal gaming tax plus state levies.

Asia-Pacific. Australia's point-of-consumption taxes by state, 15% to 20% of net wagering revenue, on top of racing product fees; New Zealand a new regime for online casino licensing with a GGR-based duty; the Philippines a tax regime for its licensed online operators serving domestic players; India a 28% goods and services tax on the full face value of bets, which reshaped its market.

Africa. A mix of GGR taxes (South Africa's provincial betting taxes on GGR, Ghana's GGR tax) and turnover or excise taxes on stakes (Kenya's excise on stakes and its withholding on winnings, both changed repeatedly; Uganda and Tanzania with their own levies), plus taxes on player winnings that are unusual elsewhere.

Taxes on players

Most jurisdictions do not tax recreational gambling winnings as income, on the reasoning that the operator has already been taxed and that taxing wins without allowing losses is inequitable. The exceptions matter: the United States taxes gambling winnings as income (with losses deductible against them for itemisers, and withholding on large payouts); Brazil withholds 15% on net winnings above a threshold; Romania, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and several others withhold on winnings at source; France, Spain and Portugal have or had regimes on large wins. Where a player tax exists, the operator usually administers it. The Tax on Gambling Winnings by Country guide covers this side.

The layers beneath the headline

The gaming tax is never the whole cost. Add: corporate income tax on profits; value-added or service taxes where they apply to gambling (Colombia, Brazil's municipal tax, Germany's treatment); licence and concession fees, sometimes large (Brazil's 30 million reais, Ontario's registration fees); levies for research, education and treatment (the UK's statutory levy, Australian and European equivalents); sports integrity or product fees (Australia's racing product fees, French levies to sport); withholding administration for player taxes; and taxes on cross-border payments to group companies. The effective rate on a business is what the model should carry, and it is often far above the gaming tax.

Direction of travel

Up, almost everywhere. Over the last five years the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK (through the levy and consultations), Illinois, Ohio, Colombia, Kenya, Czechia, Romania and Italy have raised rates or bases; very few jurisdictions have cut. The reasons are fiscal (gambling is a visible, politically easy tax base) and policy (higher tax is presented as reducing harm). The consequence regulators contend with is channelisation: every rise in effective tax reduces the value licensed operators can offer against unlicensed sites, and markets that pushed rates past the point of competitiveness (Germany, several Nordic examples) have measured the leakage.

Frequently asked questions

What is a typical online gambling tax rate? On GGR, 15% to 25% in most mature European markets, with outliers from 5% in licensing hubs to over 50% in the highest US states.

Why are turnover taxes worse than GGR taxes? Because they take a fixed share of every bet regardless of margin, which makes low-margin products (sports betting, exchanges) unviable.

Which country has the highest gambling tax? Among online sports betting regimes, New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island at 51% of GGR; Pennsylvania's 54% on online slots; France's combined levies are among the highest effective rates in Europe.

Do players pay tax on winnings? Not in most jurisdictions; yes in the United States, Brazil and a number of others, usually withheld by the operator.

Do higher taxes reduce gambling? They reduce licensed gambling; whether they reduce gambling overall depends on how much moves to unlicensed operators.

Related on iGaming Times

Tax on Gambling Winnings by Country covers the player side; Gambling Licensing Jurisdictions Compared sets tax alongside licence terms; How iGaming Companies Make Money shows where tax sits in the P&L; and the regulatory map tracks each jurisdiction.

---

Regulation, tax and market figures move quickly, sometimes mid-year. Where this guide gives a number, treat it as a starting point and confirm the current position with the named primary source before you rely on it.