Estonia is clearing up stumbling blocks affecting its ambitions to become a new iGaming hub, with a long-serving adviser of the Riigikogu Chancellery recently dismissed.
The country is in the process of reducing its remote gambling tax to 4%, but a clerical error in the Gambling Tax Act, which passed in December, will cost Estonia around €4m (£3.45m) in projected gambling tax revenue for the year.
The adviser, whose name Estonian publication Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) has chosen to keep anonymous, has now lost their job because of the error.
Estonia’s iGaming ambitions
It comes as Estonia looks to replicate models used in jurisdictions like Malta, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man, where low remote gambling taxes have led to an influx of industry operators setting up in the areas.
The error, which was noticed in January and has since been corrected, was revealed to the Riigikogu Chancellery a week after it was initially spotted, via an ERR media article.
Antero Habicht, Director of Riigikogu Chancellery, told ERR: “In January, disciplinary proceedings were initiated at the Riigikogu Chancellery, as a result of which the official was dismissed from service as a disciplinary penalty for a serious breach of official duties.
“The trigger for this was an error made by the official during the processing of a draft law, but the termination of the service relationship was not caused solely by the fact of the error, but also by other circumstances related to the case that emerged during the disciplinary proceedings.”
Estonia’s remote gambling tax will drop from 6% to 4% by 2029, subsequently declining in 0.5% increments per year, with all funds generated going towards culture and sports.
This will drop below Malta’s rate of 5% and could potentially entice iGaming operators to join those including Yolo Group to headquarter themselves in the country.
Yolo Group, which recently sold off some of its Canadian assets to Betsson, has expressed hope that Estonia could become a focal point for regulated crypto betting within the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework.
Setting up an Estonian base may become a viable option for operators, particularly with regulators around the world ramping up restrictions while governments also set up new taxes.
However, there is still work to be done, as seen by today’s dismissal.