comment
Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of Remote Gambling Association. chawkswood@rga.e
u.com
“For Estonia it might be a case of too little and too late. Although it was one of the first European jurisdictions to contemplate the regulation and licensing of online gambling any real progress has been extremely tortuous. As and when a full licensing regime is established for all forms of online gambling the attractiveness of licences will be limited by the small market. Although gambling prevalence in Estonia is high, the economy is not the strongest and the total population is only around 1.3m. Assuming that licences and barriers elsewhere restrict operators to only taking bets from within the country then the limitations are obvious. The weakness of the market will clearly impact on potential investment and, unless the government takes this fully into account when licensing and taxation costs are firmly established, Estonia is unlikely to be high on the shopping list for the big players in the online gambling world. This is especially the true when in the same timeframe they are more likely to want to focus their resources on bigger jurisdictions, such as Greece, Spain & Germany, that are going through a similar process.”
The industry responded negatively when such a huge fee was requirement and many said the size of the Estonian gambling population did not warrant such an investment.
the leGislation Estonia’s iGaming sector is controlled by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board and is covered by the Gambling Act 2009 which includes the following points:
• Operators of games of chance must be established as a limited or private limited company and must have a share capital of at least €1m.
• Operators of games of skill can organise a joint stock or limited liability company with a share capital of at least €25,000
• Operators of Toto can be with a joint stock or limited liability company with a share capital of at least €130,000
• All operators (except of Toto) must also have an additional reserve of an amount not less than one third of the share capital.
• Remote gambling licences are issued for a period of five years.
• To apply for a remote gambling licence, operators must submit an application form to the Tax and Customs Board with their details and category of gambling. Decisions
the online sectoR is GRowinG and theRe’s a huGe
incRease in the populaRity of casino Games.
usually take place up to four months of receiving all the necessary documentation and no more than six months.
• The fee of EKK50,000 is paid for the review of an application for an operating licence.
• The server containing the software for the determination of the game outcome must be located in Estonia and accessible by the authorities at any time
• Operators must keep account of stakes and winnings of all players and winnings can only be transferred to the player’s account. Players can also set a maximum limit for play and a maximum period for play and time limits for their own protection.
• Age limit is set for 16 years for lottery players, 18 years for Toto and 21 years for games of chance and skill.
• A payment service provider is required to stop illegal online gaming and to monitor the transfer of funds.
• Remote gambling operators must submit an electronic gambling report every three months. This must include a report on the total amount of credits, winnings, number of games played etc.
• From January 1 2011 the electronic accounting and control system of operators must be linked to the systems of the customs and tax board.
• The fee is EKK750,000 for the issue of an activity licence for games of chance. The fee is EKK50,000 for the issue of an activity licence for games of skill. The fee is EKK500,000 for the issue of an activity licence for the organisation of toto.
• The monthly gambling tax is set at: €1,278.23 (EEK20,000) per gambling table €447.38 (EEK7,000) per gaming machine €31.95 (EEK500) per game of skill machine 18% for games of chance and skill 18% for passive and instant lotteries 10% for numbers lottery
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estonia
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