ESTONIA: Gambling Tax
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
(Gambling Tax Act, entered into force April 1, 2002)
Eligibility
Gambling tax is imposed on amounts received from operating games of skill, totalisator, betting and lotteries. Tax is charged also on gambling tables and machines used for games of chance located on licensed premises.
Tax Base
Gambling tax is imposed on:
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amounts received as stakes in games of skill, totalisators or betting provided for in the Gambling Act;
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gambling tables and gambling machines used for organising games of chance provided for in the Gambling Act;
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amounts received as stakes in games of chance which are not organised on gambling tables or gambling machines;
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amounts received from the sale of lottery tickets when lotteries provided for in the Lotteries Act are organised.
Tax is paid by authorised operators. Tax period is one calendar month for lotteries, and games of chance or skill. The taxable period for organising betting or a totalisator shall be the period during which the betting or totalisator is organised, starting on the first day set out in the rules of the game for placing stakes and ending on the last day set out in the rules of the game for awarding prizes. Tax declaration (even if no taxable income) and tax settlement are due by 15th day of calendar month following tax period.
Tax Rate
The rate for organising games of chance is EEK 7,000 per one gambling machine and EEK 20,000 per one gambling table. The rate for betting is 5 per cent; for totalisator 5 per cent; for a game of skill 18 per cent; 18 per cent for a game of chance which is not organised on a gambling table or a gambling machine; 18 per cent for a passive lottery; 18 per cent for an instant lottery and 10 per cent for a numbers lottery.
Tax Allocation
Gambling tax is paid into the state budget. Of the amount of gambling tax paid into the state budget: 46 per cent shall be transferred to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia by the twenty-fifth day of the month following the receipt of the amount and 63 per cent of the specified amount shall be allocated for cultural buildings; 3.9 per cent shall be allocated to the Estonian Red Cross; 12.7 per cent shall be allocated for regional investment aid programme which supports projects relating children, young people, families, elderly persons and disabled persons; 37.4 per cent shall be allocated for supporting projects related to sports, science, education, children, young people, families, medicine, welfare, elderly persons and disabled persons; 32 per cent of the latter shall be allocated for supporting projects related to science, education, children and young people, 22 per cent for supporting Olympic preparation projects, 10 per cent for supporting other sports projects, 32 per cent for supporting projects related to families, medicine, welfare, elderly persons and disabled persons and 4 per cent for supporting cultural projects. Revenue from lotteries accrues to the state budget and for targeted use (mainly cultural and communal subsidies). Revenue from lotteries operated to finance specific programs or events shall be used only for those purposes. The tax is administered by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
By Estonia''''''''s Ministry of Finance |