This increase is mainly due to the legalization of online gambling on October 1, 2021. Since then, government revenue from the gambling tax has increased from 0.3 billion euros in 2021 to 1 billion euros in 2024. The increase also follows a temporary decline in 2020 and 2021 when casinos were closed part of the time due to corona, resulting in lower gambling tax revenue.

According to an estimate by the Tax and Customs Administration, approximately 0.4 billion euros of the total revenue of 1 billion euros in 2024 came from online gambling. The legalization of online gambling is also reflected in consumer spending in the gambling industry, expressed as stakes minus prize money. These increased from 2.5 billion euros in 2021 to 4.4 billion euros in 2023. Here too, the temporary closure of casinos in 2021 contributed to lower revenues. According to the Gambling Authority, online gambling accounted for more than a third of the market in 2023.

Gambling Tax Rate Increased

The gambling tax revenue has also changed in recent years because the government adjusted the rate. For casinos and domestic online gambling, this is the percentage that organizers owe on the balance of stakes minus prize money. In most other cases, such as lotteries, it is the rate that winners have to pay on the prize won.

In 2024, the gambling tax was 30.5 percent, compared to 30.1 percent in 2019. Only prizes larger than 449 euros are taxed. At the same time as the legalization of online gambling, the gambling tax was temporarily reduced, so that it was 29 percent at the end of 2021 and in 2022. However, the threshold of 449 euros was temporarily abolished. As of January 1, 2025, the rate has been increased to 34.2 percent, with the intention to further increase it to 37.8 percent in 2026.