Ireland Notifies Brussels of 1% Turnover Levy for Gambling Social Impact Fund

Ireland has sent Brussels draft rules making commercial gambling licensees pay 1% of turnover into a harm fund each year from 2027. The 2024 Act defines turnover as income less winnings, so for most operators the levy falls on gross gaming revenue, not stakes.

• Ireland notified the draft Social Impact Fund regulations to the European Commission on 12 November, with the standstill period expected to end on 15 February 2027
• Each commercial licensee would pay 1% of its previous financial year's turnover by 1 July each year, from regulations taking effect on 1 April 2027
• For a business-to-consumer licensee, the Act defines turnover as gambling income less winnings paid out, which is gross gaming revenue rather than stakes
• The fund will pay for research, education, treatment and awareness work on gambling harm, the subject of recent GRAI-commissioned ESRI research
• Neither the government nor the regulator has published an estimate of what the levy will raise

Ireland Sends Its Harm Fund Rate to Brussels

The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) said on 13 November that the draft Gambling Regulation Act 2024 (Social Impact Fund) Regulations 2026, made under section 54(3) of the Act, had been notified through the EU's Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS). The TRIS record, 2026/0645/IE, names the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration as the originating department and gives 12 November as the date received.

The draft, to be made by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, requires every licensee other than a charitable or philanthropic one to pay "1 per cent of the licensee's turnover in the financial year preceding the year to which the contribution relates". Payment is due by 1 July each year to an account named in a GRAI contribution notice. The regulations would take effect on 1 April 2027, and section 54(6) of the Act lets the GRAI recover unpaid sums as a simple contract debt.

Section 2 of the Act defines turnover three ways: gross profit for a business-to-business licensee, the charges paid for the betting facility for a remote betting intermediary such as an exchange, and, for any other licensee, total income from gambling activities less winnings paid out. Section 51 sets out what the fund pays for, and section 52 lets the minister release money from it towards the GRAI's running costs.

The Department Calls 1% Proportionate

In the TRIS summary, the department calls the rate "equitable, proportionate and sustainable" and says it was "broadly supported by industry stakeholders". It adds that the GRAI can operationalise the fund in 2027. The notification records no impact assessment.

In a Dáil answer on 27 November 2025, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said a call for input that closed on 15 May 2025 would help set the rate. On 13 October 2026 the minister said the department was still working on the regulations with the Office of the Attorney General.

The Levy Falls on Revenue, Not on Bets

Turnover suggests stakes, but the Act means something narrower. For a sportsbook or online casino, 1% means €1 for every €100 kept after winnings, not for every €100 wagered. No deduction is made for bonuses or costs, so the base sits closer to gross than to net gaming revenue, while exchanges pay on commission and suppliers on gross profit.

Nobody Has Said What the Fund Will Raise

No yield estimate appears in the GRAI notice, the TRIS record or the ministerial answers. The base will widen: in-person bookmakers move to GRAI licences on 1 December, and the minister expects gaming licensing in early 2027. The draft does not say how the first payment is worked out for a licensee licensed for only part of the preceding year, or how much section 52 could divert to running costs.

Ireland now has a rate, a payment date and a legal route to collect the money. What it does not yet have is any public figure for what 1% of gaming revenue will buy.