{"id":4986,"date":"2026-01-14T10:51:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/?p=4986"},"modified":"2026-01-14T11:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T09:09:35","slug":"estonias-accidental-gambling-tax-removal-insights-from-karolina-ullman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/estonias-accidental-gambling-tax-removal-insights-from-karolina-ullman\/","title":{"rendered":"Estonia’s Accidental Gambling Tax Removal: Insights from Karolina Ullman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’re pleased to share an insightful article from NEXT.io, a prominent platform in the global iGaming community. It covers an unusual situation in Estonia where taxes on games of chance and remote gaming were accidentally removed for 2026, sparking considerable political debate and industry discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karolina Ullman<\/a><\/strong>, our partner and valued gambling law expert at NJORD Law Firm Estonia, provides her perspective on this issue, highlighting the swift legislative action expected to correct the mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a deeper look into this topic, we invite you to read the full article<\/a> by NEXT.io below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estonia\u2019s accidental abolishment of its games of chance and remote gaming taxes are almost certain to be reversed very soon, according to a local legal expert.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First reported<\/a> by local news outlet ERR, a \u201cclerical error\u201d has resulted in the Baltic country signing a 0% gambling tax on operators into law for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This came after the country\u2019s planned phased reduction of the duty from 6% to 4% \u2013 designed to reduce by half a percentage point a year \u2013 apparently accidentally referred to \u201cskill games\u201d instead of \u201cgames of chance\u201d in the text of the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this has ignited a political furore domestically, operators are unlikely to see any benefit, with the Finance Committee\u2019s chair telling the newspaper the error will be corrected within the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sentiment was echoed by Karolina Ullman, Estonian legal expert and partner at NJORD Law Firm Estonia<\/strong>, who told NEXT.io the mistake will be reversed before February, potentially via inclusion in a separate a package of legislation due in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She outlined the mistake had previously been identified and corrected in a prior draft of the bill, but had somehow again made its way into the final text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said: \u201cRight now everyone is screaming at each other and blaming AI or blaming not using AI, but the reality is that Estonia is a very small country, and sometimes we\u2019re criticised for being able to change legislation too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd it is not going to take many days until this has been changed again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ullman added that some operators have already indicated they will pay the tax voluntarily without any change in the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the news, Kevin McGowen, Bombay Group CEO, said: \u201cWe believe strongly in respecting not just the letter of the law, but its intent. Acting responsibly, even when faced with uncertainty, is essential to building a sustainable gaming industry that regulators, partners, and communities can trust.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal expert also said the issue hasn\u2019t had much impact on the politics of gambling in the small Northern European country, which has emerged as one of the continent\u2019s major offshore gaming hubs in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued: \u201cIt might have an effect on politics in Estonia, but not on the gambling politics \u2013 politicians are really upset with one another, but it\u2019s not going to change the politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full article by NEXT.io here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re pleased to share an insightful article from NEXT.io, a prominent platform in the global iGaming community. It covers an unusual situation in Estonia where taxes on games of chance and remote gaming were accidentally removed for 2026, sparking considerable political debate and industry discussion. Karolina Ullman, our partner and valued gambling law expert at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":46,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4986"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4996,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986\/revisions\/4996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njordlaw.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}