A clerical error in the gambling tax bill approved in December has created a situation where online casinos will be able to avoid paying taxes in 2026, writes ERR News.
MP Annely Akkerman pointed out that the law should be rewritten to correct the error. The first to inform about the error in the law was Aivar Kokk, a member of the Estonian parliament’s Finance Committee, and noted that the issue had also been discussed in the committee’s discussions. He said that games of chance and remote gambling were not mentioned in this year’s tax law, which means that online casinos can also avoid paying taxes.
The error was introduced in the amendment to the Gambling Tax Law, which stipulates that 5.5% tax is paid on income from “skill games” (which are listed in the subsections of the law). According to Kokk, the problem is precisely the inclusion of the term “skill games”, and there would be no problem if the concept of “games of chance” had also been included in the interpretation. The parliament approved the bill on the 3rd of December, 2025, and the president promulgated it on the 18th of December. The aim of the bill is to gradually lower the gambling tax from 6% to 4%.
Kokk noted that the amendments for future years have been interpreted correctly, but
this year the error could cause significant losses for the state.
Akkerman, the chair of the Finance Commission, informed ERR that the error could be corrected within a month. She admitted that an error has indeed been introduced into the law and it will be corrected. Akkerman said that in her 12 years of experience in parliament, this is the first time that a clerical error has been introduced into her bills, and said that no one has noticed it – the bill has been read over by herself, as well as lawyers from the Ministry of Finance, members of the commission and members of parliament, and the president.
The commission chair explained that there are two ways to correct the error. One is to add a correction to another law, while the other would provide for a separate bill to delete the term “skill games” from the text. Akkerman indicated that the fastest option, which is to add a correction to the law, will most likely be chosen.
Quick action could prevent serious financial losses, Akkerman emphasized. A lawyer representing a gambling operator also informed that no one expected that gambling would not be taxed, and everyone understood that it was a clerical error.
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