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Gambling Tax Act

Passed 22.04.2009
RT I 2009, 24, 146
Entry into force 01.06.2009, in part 01.01.2010

Amended by the following legal instruments (show)

§ 1.  Objects of gambling tax

 (1) Gambling tax is imposed on the following:
 1) gambling tables and gambling machines used for organising games of chance and on gambling machines used for organising games of skill;
 2) in the event of organising a lottery, the total amount received from the sale of lottery tickets;
 3) in the event of organising a commercial lottery, the winning pot whose value exceeds 10 000 euros;
 4) in the event of organising a totaliser, the total amount of bets from which the winnings have been deducted;
 5) in the event of organising an online game of chance or an online game of skill, the total amount of bets from which the winnings have been deducted;
 6) in the event of organising a tournament of a game of chance, the total amount of participation fees.

 (2) Upon defining gambling and the types thereof, this Act is based on the Gambling Act.

§ 2.  Payers of gambling tax

  Gambling tax is paid by gambling operators.

§ 3.  Period of taxation

 (1) The period of taxation with gambling tax is the calendar month.

 (2) In the event of organising a commercial lottery, the period of taxation is the period during which the commercial lottery is organised, starting on the first day set out in the rules of the game for placing bets and ending on the final day for distributing winnings as set out in the rules of the game.

 (3) In the event of organising a tournament of a game of chance, the period of taxation is the period during which one tournament of a game of chance is organised, starting on the first day of accepting the participation fees set out in the rules of tournament of the game of chance and ending on the day when the acceptance of participation fees set out in the rules of tournament of the game of chance is terminated.

§ 4.  Declaration and payment of gambling tax

 (1) Gambling operators, except for the gambling operators specified in subsection (2) of this section, shall submit gambling tax returns to the Tax and Customs Board and pay gambling tax by the fifteenth day of the calendar month following the period of taxation.

 (2) Gambling operators who organise games of chance using a gambling table or a gambling machine and gambling operators who organise games of skill using a gambling machine shall submit gambling tax returns to the Tax and Customs Board and pay gambling tax by the twentieth day of the calendar month preceding the period of taxation.

 (3) A gambling tax return shall also be submitted in the event of the absence of amounts specified in clauses 2), 4), 5) and 6) of subsection (1) of section 1 of this Act.

 (4) The forms of gambling tax returns and the instructions for filling them in shall be established by a regulation of the Minister of Finance.

§ 5.  Decision concerning the payment of gambling tax

 (1) The Tax and Customs Board shall issue to gambling operators specified in subsection (2) of section 4 of this Act a decision concerning payment of gambling tax.

 (2) The decision shall include the following data:
 1) the type of organised gambling, the business name, registry code, address and number of the activity license of the operator;
 2) the names and addresses of gambling locations belonging to operators of games of chance or games of skill, together with reference to the number of operating permit and for how many gambling machines or gambling tables of games of chance or for how many gambling machines of games of skill the operator has paid gambling tax in every gambling location;
 3) the term of validity of the decision.

 (3) The Tax and Customs Board shall issue a decision within seven working days after the submission of a tax return and after the receipt of gambling tax.

 (4) An operator of a game of chance or game of skill has the right to change the number of gambling machines or gambling tables of games of chance or the number of gambling machines of games of skill in gambling locations indicated in the decision only with the prior written consent of the Tax and Customs Board so that their total number remains the same.

§ 6.  Tax rate

  The rates of gambling tax are the following:
 1) 1 278.23 euros per gambling table;
[RT I 2010, 22, 108 - entry into force 01.01.2011]
 2) 447.38 euros per gambling machine;
[RT I 2010, 22, 108 - entry into force 01.01.2011]
 3) 31.95 euros per gambling machine of game of skill;
[RT I 2010, 22, 108 - entry into force 01.01.2011]
 4) 18 percent of the amount provided for in clause 1 (1) 2);
 5) 18 percent of the amount provided for in clause 1 (1) 3);
 6) 5 percent of the amount provided for in clause 1 (1) 4);
 7) 5 percent of the amount provided for in clause 1 (1) 5)
 8) 5 percent of the amount provided for in clause 1 (1) 6).

§ 7.  Receipt and use of gambling tax

 (1) Gambling tax is paid into the state budget.

 (2) The following expenses are provided for in the state budget:
 1) to the Cultural Endowment of Estonia – in an amount the size of which corresponds to 46 percent of the proceeds planned from the gambling tax and of which 63 percent shall be allocated to cultural buildings;
 2) to the Council of the Gambling Tax (hereinafter council) – in an amount the size of which corresponds to 37.4 percent of the proceeds planned from the gambling tax. 31.8 percent of this amount shall be allocated in support of projects related to science, education, children and young people, 22 percent in support of Olympic preparation projects, 10 percent in support of other sports projects, 31.7 percent in support of projects relating to people with gambling addiction, families, medicine, welfare, elderly persons and disabled persons, 4 percent in support of cultural projects and 0.5 percent for covering the expenses of servicing the committee specified in subsection (4) of this section;
 3) to the Ministry of the Interior as programme funds for granting regional investment aid – in an amount the size of which corresponds to 12.7 percent of the proceeds planned from the gambling tax. Programme funds shall be used for supporting regional investments relating to children, young people, families, elderly persons and disabled persons in order to improve welfare, learning, sports and leisure activity conditions. 99.5 percent of programme funds shall be allocated for granting support and 0.5 percent for covering the administrative expenses of the programme and for servicing the committee as specified in subsection (7) of this section. The amount allocated from the programme funds for a financial year and not used for administrative expenses or servicing the committee shall be added to the amount earmarked for granting support next year and shall be used for supporting investments;
 4) to the Estonian Red Cross – in an amount the size of which corresponds to 3.9 percent of the proceeds planned from the gambling tax.

 (3) The Government of the Republic shall, by a regulation, establish the conditions of and procedure for applying for, granting, using and reclaiming the support provided for in clauses 2) and 3) of subsection (2) of this section.

 (4) The council, which is formed by the Riigikogu and comprises six members of the Riigikogu, one representative of the Ministry of Education and Research, one representative of the Ministry of Culture and one representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs, shall review the applications submitted for supporting the projects provided for in clause 2) of subsection (2) of this section and decide the allocation and amount of grants. The Government of the Republic shall ensure the servicing of the council.

 (5) Applications for supporting the projects specified in clause 2) of subsection (2) of this section shall be submitted to the council through a ministry specified in a regulation of the Government of the Republic established pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. The ministry shall verify the compliance of applications and documents annexed to the applications with the requirements established by legislation and forward the materials along with its written opinion to the council within ten working days after receiving the materials. The council shall decide on allocation of a grant or refusal to allocate a grant within two months as of the receipt of the application. The ministry shall notify the applicant of the decision of the council.

 (6) A session of the council shall be called and chaired by the chairman of the council or, in the absence of the chairman, by the vice chairman of the council. The council has a quorum if at least a half of the members of the council are present. The council shall adopt decisions by a simple majority. In the event of equal division of votes, the chairman of the council shall have the casting vote.

 (7) A standing committee on granting regional investment aid formed at the Ministry of the Interior shall make decisions on granting aid specified in clause 3) of subsection (2) of this section. The committee shall be serviced by the Ministry of the Interior and Enterprise Estonia.

§ 8.  Implementing provisions

 (1) Revenue stamps issued by the Tax and Customs Board to gambling operators before the entry into force of this Act shall be valid until the end of the period of taxation.

 (2) Until 31 December 2009, the tax rate for gambling machines used for organising games of chance specified in subsection (6) of section 36 of the Gambling Act shall be 50 percent of the rate provided for in clause 2) of section 6 of this Act.

 (3) Gambling operators who organise games of skill on gambling machines shall submit gambling tax returns to the Tax and Customs Board and pay gambling tax by the fifteenth day of the calendar month following entry into force of this Act.

 (4) Until 31 December 2009, the rate of gambling tax for organising a numbers lottery on the basis of an operating permit before the entry into force of this Act shall be 10 percent of the total amount received from the sale of the numbers lottery tickets.

§ 9. – § 13. [Omitted from this text]

§ 14.  Entry into force of Act

 (1) This Act shall enter into force on 1 June 2009.

 (2) Clause 5 of subsection (1), section 1 and clause 7) of section 6 of this Act shall enter into force on 1 January 2010.