Malta has tripled gambling taxes from October 1, 2026.

[PostQuantumBTC]

15% is not high,... actually gambling taxes should even be higher than income taxes since this business is very profitable due to its wide reach through online gambling,
So they deserve to pay more to help the people who are losing as well, since it's gambling and a country with growing revenue because of gambling especially if most gamblers are locals, that means other people's lives are being ruined.

I do not agree with this and I agree with it. If you are talking about gamblers to be paying 15% as gambling tax, the government are very stupid to be looking for taxes everywhere. Gambling is very risky, but the government are taxing gamblers.

But if you means the tax is not high for gambling sites, I so much agree with you.

[SatoPrincess]

Can’t blame them. With the rate at which gambling companies are relocating their headquarters from high tax countries to Malta in a bid to reduce their tax bill, it’s only rational for the government to increase their rates. Even with the increase in gambling taxes, Malta is still relatively cheaper for casinos to run their operations compared to other nations.

[Yorubek]

The more complexity increases, the more people will be attracted to online casinos because people do not like complexity. Casinos will use their strategies to somehow recover the additional tax loss from gamblers, casinos will never face losses and pay additional taxes to the government, they will realize their profits. By setting a tax of 15%, the government will benefit more, the more complexity increases, as a result, gamblers will get less facilities from casinos, which will cause gamblers to face more losses.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

I think it's still not high compared to other countries like.

USA = New Jersey 20% while in the United Kingdom the tax is 40% on casinos and 15% for sports betting.

So they are kinda just trying to increase it based on the standards in other countries, nothing wrong with that, and it's good because it will help the country increase its revenue. and also as the regulations are gambling-friendly that increase is not a big deal.

That's for a start, in the future they would go higher, even though they're still taking lower taxes, the percentage of their increment is mind-blowing, a whooping 200% for games of chance, it's discouraging enough for tourists to choose other countries to travel for gambling. I think this would see their revenue reduced since the volume would decline, unless they are at the verge of controlling gambling activities within the country.

[Filicius]

Can’t blame them. With the rate at which gambling companies are relocating their headquarters from high tax countries to Malta in a bid to reduce their tax bill, it’s only rational for the government to increase their rates. Even with the increase in gambling taxes, Malta is still relatively cheaper for casinos to run their operations compared to other nations.

I do not know the tax rates in other countries that are not mine, where they are higher than the new ones proposed, but from the comments of other users, it seems usual that in other countries they are much higher than that 10 or 15% that is going to be imposed from now on in Malta.

more than if it is high taxes, I think the crux of the matter is that they have always been traditionally low (Malta has even had a reputation as a tax haven) and that is going to end.

[Mutuvasilin]

Well, it to me it means only one thing - people will be abandoning brick-and-mortar casinos more and more. I can understand gamblers that want to play in land-based casinos, I mean I can see what they like there, but to me they are dinosaurs. People increasingly dislike the atmosphere inside those casinos, and if they want to gamble, they gamble online. I am one of those people myself. I don't want to spend in casino all day, which is often happens if you go to a land-based casino. I want to be able to play for half an hour, when I feel like it, and that's the time you only spend on driving to a brick-and-mortar casino.

I think land-based casinos are in the same situation as restaurants. You don't go to a fancy restaurant just to eat food you could cook at home, you go for the emotions, the atmosphere and the memories. Plus tourists play there too, and some of them may have never seen a land-based casino because it's banned in their country, so the experience matters more to them than any tax they'd pay. But that's just my opinion

[Synchronice]

As always the government will try to make more money with taxes and see a decline in volume

I searched and found that in Malta there are 19k jobs created by the gambling industry and €714.4 million of economic value was generated by the industry just in the first half of 2025. Source: https://www.mga.org.mt/app/uploads/MGA-Interim-Report-2025.pdf

And now they want to make more money increasing taxes. But we know many people travel there to gamble and will choose a different country with lower taxes

Like in France and the taxes to rich people, this will backfire

I don't understand who comes with these ideas about taxes. It's 5% for years and they suddenly triple the amount? Okay, you attracted and kept businesses for years but do they really think that a sudden 3x increase won't motivate businesses to leave your market? Every country that tries to tax gambling companies higher and/or ban them, will lose a very good and easy, guaranteed revenue because the world is competitive. You set 15% tax instead of 5%? This is an opportunity for another small country to attract businesses and in the end, you'll lose a significant revenue and your 3x increased taxes will generate less revenue than the original tax you had.

[PostQuantumBTC]

Can’t blame them. With the rate at which gambling companies are relocating their headquarters from high tax countries to Malta in a bid to reduce their tax bill, it’s only rational for the government to increase their rates. Even with the increase in gambling taxes, Malta is still relatively cheaper for casinos to run their operations compared to other nations.

This is not true.

Malta gave license to 46 gambling companies in 2022, 15 in 2023, 17 in 2024 and 19 in 2025. I do not see any increase in that.

I know Malta is one of the countries that is licensing new gambling companies but the number one is the UK, followed by Anjouan and then Curacao.

Among them all, no one is higher than UK, it gives the highest gambling license.

[MaxRoman]

Can’t blame them. With the rate at which gambling companies are relocating their headquarters from high tax countries to Malta in a bid to reduce their tax bill, it’s only rational for the government to increase their rates. Even with the increase in gambling taxes, Malta is still relatively cheaper for casinos to run their operations compared to other nations.

This is not true.

Malta gave license to 46 gambling companies in 2022, 15 in 2023, 17 in 2024 and 19 in 2025. I do not see any increase in that.

I know Malta is one of the countries that is licensing new gambling companies but the number one is the UK, followed by Anjouan and then Curacao.

Among them all, no one is higher than UK, it gives the highest gambling license.

Does a casino really have to be in the same country as the licensing authority? I thought it works like this: you get a license from, say, Curacao, and your actual location can be anywhere, even the North Pole. Or am I missing something?

[henmark]

Can’t blame them. With the rate at which gambling companies are relocating their headquarters from high tax countries to Malta in a bid to reduce their tax bill, it’s only rational for the government to increase their rates. Even with the increase in gambling taxes, Malta is still relatively cheaper for casinos to run their operations compared to other nations.

I do not know the tax rates in other countries that are not mine, where they are higher than the new ones proposed, but from the comments of other users, it seems usual that in other countries they are much higher than that 10 or 15% that is going to be imposed from now on in Malta.

more than if it is high taxes, I think the crux of the matter is that they have always been traditionally low (Malta has even had a reputation as a tax haven) and that is going to end.

I think it is more about gambling than anything else. If you make and sell bread, you are not in chance of losing money from selling bread, like every time you sell, you profit, only chance you fail, is not selling. Gambling, however, if you suddenly get 1 million new players, that doesn't automatically mean a good thing, you could still very much lose. So when it is taxed, it's taxed less.

Because you could earn, or you could lose. Today some guy could show up with 100 million dollars and lose it all to you, and now you are 100 million richer. Tomorrow someone can come in and win the big jackpot and get more than 100 million from you. If you paid taxes in between them, now you are screwed. So timing matters a lot. Just because that year they did great doesn't mean next year they will too. That's what casinos are probably complaining about.

[SatoPrincess]

Can’t blame them. With the rate at which gambling companies are relocating their headquarters from high tax countries to Malta in a bid to reduce their tax bill, it’s only rational for the government to increase their rates. Even with the increase in gambling taxes, Malta is still relatively cheaper for casinos to run their operations compared to other nations.

This is not true.

Malta gave license to 46 gambling companies in 2022, 15 in 2023, 17 in 2024 and 19 in 2025. I do not see any increase in that.

I know Malta is one of the countries that is licensing new gambling companies but the number one is the UK, followed by Anjouan and then Curacao.

Among them all, no one is higher than UK, it gives the highest gambling license.

There hasn’t been a massive increase in new licenses but that doesn’t make my statement untrue. Case in point, Skybet moved its headquarters to Malta in 2025, and they didn’t have to apply for a new license. Your argument that the UK issues the most licences doesn’t automatically mean gambling companies aren’t moving to Malta for tax reasons. The UK tax rates are one of the highest in the world hence the corporate relocations.

[Somegory]

Starting October 1, 2026, licensed gambling establishments in Malta will no longer pay a flat tax on gambling and will pay new taxes, which will vary depending on the product the establishment offers to consumers.

However, the second tax increase does not apply to all categories of games.
Until October 1, Malta had a flat 5% tax on profits. Now, taxes are 15% for casinos and lotteries, and 10% for betting, poker, bingo, and stock exchanges.
https://betstarters.com/maltas-gaming-tax-overhaul-what-changes-for-operators-from-october-1-2026/
This shows that regulators are restricting games of chance the most. However, there's an important nuance that's easy to miss: the tax is now calculated on player revenue, but only for those physically located in Malta. This effectively penalizes visitors to brick-and-mortar casinos.

If I get this correctly this extra taxes is for physical located casinos in Malta? I suspect this was one reason why many gamblers are quitting located casinos for online casinos because why not?

What you won isn't always yours anymore, it means you are earning less as a gambler when you are paying taxes this way, if anyone is in Malta my advice is they should quit going out to gamble.

Grab your smartphone and find a casino thats not even closer to you, maybe in another country, and start having some fun..

[Agbe]

This is just insane. Why can't they just tax all the games at once instead of taxing each games separately. And it is not good for the government to tax gamblers and let them allow the casino to do their job. Most of those casino licensing countries thought casinos are making enough money and they want to collect back those Money through the gamblers and this will make the gamblers to reduce their activeness and that will make casinos' companies to stop operating.

It would be better for them to collect the flat rate tax of the 5% than the overrating tax which will make people to stop operating their casinos there.

[Pandu Geddon]

The more complexity increases, the more people will be attracted to online casinos because people do not like complexity. Casinos will use their strategies to somehow recover the additional tax loss from gamblers, casinos will never face losses and pay additional taxes to the government, they will realize their profits. By setting a tax of 15%, the government will benefit more, the more complexity increases, as a result, gamblers will get less facilities from casinos, which will cause gamblers to face more losses.

Even though the profits from casinos are quite large, the operational costs of land-based casinos are also higher than online casinos. With increased taxes, it will surely have an impact on gamblers' interest in land-based casinos. 
However, the figure of 15% should not be a large number for casinos. But if it is imposed on gamblers, of course many will think twice about trying land-based casinos. 
However, the tax increase must be balanced with the facilities and services provided. This will require a fair government that genuinely intends to manage gambling well, not just thinking about higher state revenue.

[sompitonov]

This is just insane. Why can't they just tax all the games at once instead of taxing each games separately. And it is not good for the government to tax gamblers and let them allow the casino to do their job. Most of those casino licensing countries thought casinos are making enough money and they want to collect back those Money through the gamblers and this will make the gamblers to reduce their activeness and that will make casinos' companies to stop operating.

It would be better for them to collect the flat rate tax of the 5% than the overrating tax which will make people to stop operating their casinos there.

It is likely that whoever came up with this either does not fully grasp the consequences, or alternatively the Maltese regulators understand everything perfectly well and have simply chosen this harsh method to reduce the number of gambling platforms, intending to see which ones manage to survive. Naturally, players would prefer not to face higher costs, but that is the most probable outcome. Regardless, we are not in a position to dictate terms we can only accept them or walk away. It is quite possible that many operators will simply look elsewhere to conduct their gambling business.

[Free Market Capitalist]

Yes but they are going to test raising the taxes until they see a loss and then adjust to the optimal level. All governments do it to a degree. I would be more ok with it if the citizens actually seen the benefits from rising taxes, but we all know it mostly goes into politicians pockets.

That’s not always the case. Left-wing lunatic governments keep raising taxes even if it means collecting less revenue. If they collect less, they blame some external enemy (the U.S., capitalism, etc.) and keep doing the same thing over and over. Look at Peronist Argentina, Venezuela, and similar countries. I’d like to think that in this case they’ll use their heads and won’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, but you never know. Malta was the country to which many professional European poker players emigrated around the time of the 2012 regulations or thereabouts. If they go the other way, they could destroy the business.

[rachael9385]

As always the government will try to make more money with taxes and see a decline in volume

If the taxes are way too high it might affect the casinos, it is important for the government to take taxes especially if the country has little sources of revenue and also need a lot of things to be developed in their country. Even though they try to make money off it there's nothing wrong if it's a moderate amount but I think tripling it is not really reasonable.

And now they want to make more money increasing taxes. But we know many people travel there to gamble and will choose a different country with lower taxes
Like in France and the taxes to rich people, this will backfire

That's right, when taxes increases the cost of operation of the casinos is also going to increase as well. Gambling is for both the rich and average, if the average gamblers decide to quit from using a casino based on this it is going to affect the casino in terms of players that they have lost.

[Cryptomultiplier]

This is just insane. Why can't they just tax all the games at once instead of taxing each games separately. And it is not good for the government to tax gamblers and let them allow the casino to do their job. Most of those casino licensing countries thought casinos are making enough money and they want to collect back those Money through the gamblers and this will make the gamblers to reduce their activeness and that will make casinos' companies to stop operating.

It would be better for them to collect the flat rate tax of the 5% than the overrating tax which will make people to stop operating their casinos there.

The part where the gambling companies are made to pay more taxes means that winnings for gamblers would become harder and am sure the TOS would become stricter that any small default would see a gambler have their funds frozen without a good reason.

The most important part is that the Maltese VAT is excluded for foreign players, while it's the operators that are losing their tax exemption rights. It's really going to be a huge change we would see, perhaps most operators would leave the country to another with cheap tax laws.

[bakasabo]

The most important part is that the Maltese VAT is excluded for foreign players, while it's the operators that are losing their tax exemption rights. It's really going to be a huge change we would see, perhaps most operators would leave the country to another with cheap tax laws.

Malta was a great place for gambling industry due to appealing tax policy - now that has changed. You know what also Malta an appealing place for? For cryptocurrency companies. Todays it is gambling, next tax rates and VAT will be reconsidered for crypto related companies. If Maltese budget won't reach the planned of claimed taxes amounts because some of gambling companies leaves Malta, then perhaps we should soon expect tax increase in other sector.

[_act_]

The part where the gambling companies are made to pay more taxes means that winnings for gamblers would become harder and am sure the TOS would become stricter that any small default would see a gambler have their funds frozen without a good reason.

Do you not know that most gambling  profit is no gamblers like really, gambling profit are guaranteed for just two bodies. The first is the government and the second is the gambling site. But if government increases gambling taxes, definitely the gambers will be the one that will suffer the losses more with lower payout, lower bonuses, and lesser long term profitability. This is the reason we have all been saying that gambling should just be for fun.