A clerical error in the gambling tax bill approved last December removed online casinos from taxation this year, ERR reported on Monday.

"The wording of the law, which excluded games of chance offered by online casinos from taxation in 2026 – taxing only skill-based games — was a regrettable mistake that should never have made it into the legislation and in no way reflects the actual intent of the legislator. It was not a deliberate decision or an attempt to grant tax relief to online casinos," she said on Tuesday.

Liivamägi said gambling is a socially sensitive area and that the state does not aim to exempt it from taxes.

"In the case of the gambling tax, the negative impacts associated with the sector must be taken into account, and the revenue collected should support activities important to society," the official explained.

"On behalf of the ministry, I apologize for this mistake and understand the criticism from the public and the media. Such technical errors are unacceptable in responsible lawmaking, and we take the incident very seriously," Liivamägi said.

Liivamägi stressed the Ministry of Finance aims to ensure that gambling tax revenue is collected consistently and fairly, and that the tax rules are unambiguous for both businesses and the public.

"The next step is to correct the error to restore legal clarity and reduce the risk of losing tax revenue. Until now, it has been clearly understood in the sector that remote gambling is taxed on both games of chance and skill-based games, and business accounting and processes have been structured accordingly," Liivamägi noted.

Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi (Reform) told ERR on Tuesday morning that the Riigikogu bears responsibility for the legislative flaw.

Annely Akkermann, chair of the Riigikogu Finance Committee, said on Monday that the error arose during the editing of proposals submitted by the Ministry of Finance and was not present in the preparatory material.

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