CURRENT SITUATION
Te gambling market has been growing steadily in Estonia, although the impact of Covid has shifted many players from land-based to online and tax revenues for the offline sector have fallen.
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Taxes are covered by the 2009 Gambling Tax Act which includes:
- Gaming machines pay €300 per month per machine and 10 per cent of the GGR.
- Gaming tables pay €1,278 per table per month
- Games of skill pay €31.95 per game per month.
- Lottery tax rate is 18 per cent of ticket sales.
- Totalisator and online gambling pay five per cent of GGR.
- Gambling tournaments pay fiver per cent on amount collected from entry fee less prize pool proceeds.
Before obtaining a permit, an operator must implement an electronic accounting and control system called EAKS which collects data on gambling including games played and winnings. Tis is accessible by the Tax and Customs Board and therefore must be connected to this via a gambling reporting system called EHMA.
Meanwhile a Restricted Gambling Persons (HAMPI) register is also available to enable players to exempt themselves which covers all sectors except instant lotteries.
Te players can exclude themselves per gambling sector and do this via the online application in e-MTA, directly at the Tax and Customs Board office or via the venue. Te exclusion can be between six and 36 months.
P78 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Retail outlets, including gaming locations, were closed in Estonia between March 16 and May 31 2020 then additionally from December 28 to January 31 2021 and again from March 3 until May 24 2021.
In April 2020 Swedbank issued a report on consumer spending in the Baltics and in Estonia card spending was down by 50 per cent (excluding food and miscellaneous stores) whilst cash withdrawals in the country also plummeted by 50 per cent.
A government decree ruled Estonians must have a Covid vaccination
certificate as a prerequisite for entry into public spaces starting November 1 until spring this year. Tis
means anyone entering a casino must have a
vaccination passport or
proof they have had Covid within the last six months, alongside their identity documentation.
On the upside, by the end of last year it was reported that Estonia’s economy was recovering faster than expected and at nine per cent growth the country was set to see the second highest level of economic growth in the EU in 2021. Te projections were published in November last year by the European Commission and will depend heavily on the evolution of the pandemic and turnaround in demand.
Estonia has been seeing a growth rate driven by private consumer demand, government stimulus and buoyant exports and is expected to be strong throughout this year and next, supported by a recovery in employment, sustained wage growth and dynamic foreign demand.
In October last year a government decree ruled Estonians must have a Covid vaccination certificate as a prerequisite for entry into public spaces starting November 1 until at least spring this year, if not beyond. Tis means anyone entering a casino must have a vaccination passport or proof they have had Covid within the last six months, alongside their identity documentation.
Total number of Covid cases reached almost 219,500 by the end of last year in Estonia with 1,770 deaths after a big peak in spring last year and again end of last year. By end November 2021 around 57 per cent of the Estonian population were vaccinated.
In late November Estonia witnessed over 1,780 new daily cases, equivalent to the March pandemic peak and its rate is one of the highest in Europe.
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