VAT Treatment of betting & other forms of gambling from 1 October 2026

As from 1 October 2026, under LN 86 of 2026, the exemption for betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling shall cover only the following services:

1.      Low Risk Games that include:

1. Non-profit games wherein the value of the stake does not exceed five euro (€5) per player;
2. Standard Commercial communication games where one person or entity organising a series of commercial communication games do not cumulatively exceed one hundred thousand euro (€100,000) in prizes during any calendar month and not more than five hundred thousand euro (€500,000) during any calendar year and where any single event does not award a prize exceeding fifty thousand euro (€50,000);
3. Limited commercial communication games, wherein the value of the stake does not exceed two euro (€2) per player, and the value of the prize does not exceed two hundred and fifty euro (€250) and where one person or entity organising a series of limited commercial communication games shall not cumulatively exceed five thousand euro (€5,000) in prizes during any calendar month and not more than fifty thousand euro (€50,000) during any calendar year.

2.      Junket events required to be approved in accordance with the Gaming Authorisations Regulations (SL583.05) held on an occasional basis. Junket events shall be considered as being held on an occasional basis where they are not organised on a routine basis and which, due to their scale and nature, require specific planning and organisational arrangements;

According to Regulation 21 of SL 583.05, “junket events” are events organised by authorised licenced persons consisting of the activity of one or more players gathered within the gaming premises of the same authorised person.

3.      The provision of any facilities for gambling on the outcome of a real-life event, which facilities can only be physically accessed at the place where the event physically takes place, including the services of book makers, betting exchanges and any equivalent facilities. The term ‘event’ shall mean a sporting event or competition.

Therefore, supplies of facilities for betting on the outcome of sporting or competitive events are only exempt where:

-        The event is a real-life event and

-        The betting service is accessed at the place where the event physically takes place.

Whereas the old Government Notice 1293 of 21 November 2017 definition of “event” includes a real life or virtual sporting event, a competition, a lottery, the performance of an index and a natural phenomenon, the definition in the new guidelines dated 6 April 2026 applicable from 1 October 2026 is more restricted and states that the term ‘event’ shall mean a sporting event or competition.

As regards the first two exemptions regarding Low Risk Games and Junket Events, the MTCA guidelines do not distinguish if such games are supplied physically or online.  Therefore, the exemption applies for both physical and online supplies of Low Risk Games and Junket Events.

Hence, all supplies of betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling that are not listed above, shall become taxable in Malta at the standard rate of 18%.

The Place of Supply

The following services related to gambling are considered as electronically supplied services and therefore, where supplied to a non-taxable person, shall take place where that person is established, has his permanent address or usually resides:

-        the offering of a facility for the placing of bets on the internet or via an electronic network in connection with any event, whether the event is live or otherwise, where the placing and processing of such bets is essentially automated;

-        online access to gambling platforms which enable players to play ‘random number generator’ games, whether against the ‘house’ (such as casino-type games) or against other players (e.g. poker) where the players are geographically remote from one another, and where the entire process is automated and the service provider’s staff cannot impact on the transaction nor intervene in the process;

-        online access to bingo games with numbers generated by the system or to streamed conventional bingo games where players make their selection during the game by using the electronic system and winners are identified automatically;

Live Streaming of Events

It has also been clarified that live casino services shall qualify as an activity similar to an entertainment activity for the purpose of item 6(2)(a) of Part 2 of the Third Schedule to the VAT Act (and hence taxable services) where such services concern casino-type games conducted in real time by means of a physical dealer or presenter operating a gaming device, as defined in the Gaming Definitions Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 583.04), located in a studio or casino environment, and where:

1. the game is captured and transmitted to players via live audio-visual streaming over the internet;
2. players participate remotely through an electronic interface enabling the placement of bets and, where applicable, the communication of game outcomes;
3. player actions are processed and transmitted to the dealer or presenter, either through an intermediary electronic system or by means of direct interaction between the player and the dealer or presenter, for the purpose of conducting the game; and
4. the outcome of the game is determined by the execution of the game and communicated to players in real time.

This article was written by Joseph Sammut, Senior VAT Advisor at Forvis Mazars in Malta.