Latvian gambling law, explained

What changed in 2026

• 1 January: gambling tax went up. Online gambling from 12% to 15%, land-based betting and totalisator from 15% to 18%, bingo from 10% to 12%, slot machines from EUR 6,204 to EUR 7,440 per machine place a year, and gaming tables from EUR 33,696 to EUR 40,440 a year.
• 1 April: the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) was merged into the State Revenue Service (VID), which now licenses and supervises the market.
• 1 April: licensed betting operators may show their logos in adult sport, an exception to the advertising ban.
• 1 April: the powers to block unlicensed gambling sites and their payments moved from IAUI to VID.
• No further amendment to the Gambling and Lotteries Law has been adopted since 1 April. A bill to raise the gambling age to 21 has been in committee since September 2024 (see What is pending).

Who regulates

The State Revenue Service (Valsts ieņēmumu dienests, VID) supervises gambling and lottery operators and issues their licences (Section 81 and Section 10(1) of the Gambling and Lotteries Law). Its statutory tasks include licensing, supervision, market statistics, the central monitoring system for slot machines and the self-exclusion register (Section 82). The State Police also has powers under the same law.

VID took over on 1 April 2026, when Cabinet Order No. 630 of 3 October 2025 merged the Inspection into it, together with its functions, staff and records. Within VID, gambling sits in the Non-financial Sector Supervision Department, in two units: one for licensing, compliance and legal matters, and one for on-site, remote, technical and financial checks (Finance Ministry, 26 March 2026; the unit names are our translation).

The transition rules are in the law's transitional provisions:

• Licences issued by the Inspection up to 31 March 2026 stay valid until the re-registration date stated in each licence (point 32).
• Applications filed with the Inspection by that date and not yet decided are decided by VID (point 33).
• Acts of the Inspection that could still be challenged after 31 March 2026 are challenged at VID under the State Revenue Service Law (point 35).

One drafting remnant survives: Section 49(2), on refusing online licences, still names the old Inspection.

Licences

What can be licensed

Section 5 permits eight types of gambling: slot machines, roulette, card games, dice games, betting, totalisator, bingo and games of chance by telephone. Any of them may be offered online as "interactive gambling" (Section 44). Land-based gambling is allowed only in casinos, gaming halls, bingo halls and betting shops, and each venue needs its own licence (Section 20).

National lotteries are a state monopoly of Latvijas Loto, which is also the only company that may hold an interactive lottery licence (Sections 60, 63 and 75). Since 2018, B2B suppliers that create, maintain or stream gambling content from Latvia need a gambling services licence (Sections 80.1 to 80.6).

Who can hold a licence

• A Latvian company with EUR 1.4 million paid-up capital. The licensee must be a capital company registered in Latvia, with paid-up share capital of at least EUR 1,400,000 (Section 8, point 1). The law provides no route for a company registered abroad to hold the licence directly.
• Foreign ownership. Foreign shareholders may hold at most 49%, but the cap does not apply to investors from the EU, the EEA or OECD countries (Section 8, point 2).
• Board. At least half of the supervisory and management board members must be tax residents of the EU, the EEA or an OECD country. Board members and the auditor need an impeccable reputation, and anyone convicted of an intentional crime is excluded (Section 9).
• Bank account and servers. An online licence application must include a statement of an account at a credit institution registered in Latvia (Section 47(1), point 2). Servers may be located abroad: the operator notifies VID of the country and address of its equipment (Section 53(5)).
• Duration. The licence is issued for an indefinite period and must be re-registered every year (Section 10(2)). It covers all of Latvia and cannot be transferred (Sections 10(3) and 41(1), point 5).
• Decision time. VID decides on an online gambling licence within 60 days, and on remote betting within 30 days (Section 48).

Licence fees

The fees are set in Section 2 of the law "On Lotteries and Gambling Fee and Tax":

• Gambling licence, land-based with or without online: EUR 427,000
• Gambling licence for online gambling only: EUR 200,000
• Annual re-registration of either licence: EUR 45,000 (EUR 37,000 until the end of 2024)
• Venue licence, on issue and each annual re-registration: casino EUR 30,000, gaming hall or bingo hall EUR 4,500, betting point EUR 2,000
• Gambling services licence, on issue and each year: EUR 400,000 for more than 25 gambling devices or tables, EUR 120,000 for 25 or fewer (Section 2.1)

Who holds a licence

VID's list dated 1 June 2026 names 21 licensed gambling companies. 20 of them hold a permit for online gambling, and 10 of those are online-only. VID's statistics counted 19 companies actively running online gambling at the end of June 2026.

Tax

Gambling tax

Rates under Section 3 of the gambling tax law, in force from 1 January 2026:

• Online gambling: 15% of revenue, "regardless of the type of game" (Section 3(5)). On the law's wording this includes online betting.
• Land-based betting and totalisator: 18% of revenue (Section 3(3)).
• Games of chance by telephone: 18% of revenue (Section 3(2)).
• Bingo: 12% of revenue (Section 3(4)).
• Slot machines: EUR 7,440 a year for each machine place (Section 3(1), point 3).
• Roulette, card and dice tables: EUR 40,440 a year for each table (Section 3(1), points 1 and 2).
• Lotteries: 15% since 1 January 2025, up from 10% (Section 7).

A law of 4 December 2024 first scheduled these increases for 2027; a law of 3 December 2025 brought them forward to 1 January 2026. No rates for 2027 or later are on the books. The tax is paid monthly: the return is due within 15 days of the month's end and the tax by the 23rd (Section 10). Online gambling tax goes entirely to the state budget; other gambling tax is split 95% to the state and 5% to the municipality where the gambling took place (Section 12).

Tax on players' winnings

• A player's gambling and lottery winnings up to EUR 3,000 in a tax year are exempt (Personal Income Tax Law, Section 9(1), point 5).
• The part above EUR 3,000 is taxed at 25.5% up to EUR 105,300 a year and 33% above that. An extra 3% applies to total annual income above EUR 200,000.
• A Latvian-licensed operator withholds the tax when it pays out (Section 17(10), point 22). Winnings from an operator licensed elsewhere are declared by the player in the annual tax return. VID's guidance says they must be declared even below EUR 3,000, though the exemption still applies.

Player protection

Minimum age 18

Nobody under 18 may take part in gambling (Section 41(1), point 6). Venues must check age and ask for ID when in doubt (Section 37), and gambling websites must display the ban (Section 53(2), point 4). Admitting a minor costs a company 1,400 fine units, which is EUR 7,000 (Section 89(8); one fine unit is EUR 5 under the Law on Administrative Liability). Ordinary lotteries have no minimum age in the law; online lotteries are 18+.

Self-exclusion

• The right. Anyone may bar themselves from all gambling, including online gambling and online lotteries, by entering the national self-exclusion register (Section 4.1). The minimum period is 12 months. VID keeps the register and operators have remote access to it.
• How to register. Online with e-ID authentication, which takes effect immediately; in writing at VID, entered by the next working day; or at any gambling venue, which passes the request to VID within three working days (Cabinet Regulation No. 333). VID's register page links to the online form.
• Removal. Only after at least 12 months in the register, by a written application made in person at VID.
• Online operators' duties. Check the register at every login, remind the player at every login that self-exclusion is available, and, from the second hour of play, show a 10-second message on gambling harm and self-exclusion each time a new game starts (Regulation No. 333).
• VID publishes no count of the people in the register.

Minimum payout

• Slot machines: at least 80% of stakes (Section 41(1), point 7).
• Online roulette, card and dice games: at least 80% of stakes (Section 45).
• Totalisator, betting and bingo: at least 50% of stakes (Section 41(1), point 7).
• Games of chance by telephone: at least 45% of stakes (Section 41(1), point 7).
• Lotteries: at least 45% of ticket sales (Section 73(2)).

Falling below a floor is a ground for VID to annul the licence (Section 87(1), points 7 and 8).

No free play

"It is prohibited to offer participation in gambling for free, as a gift or prize, or as compensation for buying goods or receiving a service" (Section 41(6), our translation). The fine is 1,400 fine units, EUR 7,000 (Section 89(12)). This is why licensed operators' promotions in Latvia are built as "risk-free" spins, refunded after a loss, rather than free spins.

Accounts and payouts

• Online players must register with their name, personal code, date of birth and the number of the account they fund play from, before they can play (Sections 53(1) and 54.1).
• Withdrawals go to the account the stakes came from; paying winnings to any other account is prohibited (Section 53(4)), with a fine of 1,400 fine units.
• Winnings up to EUR 720 are paid immediately, from EUR 720 to EUR 14,300 within one working day, and above EUR 14,300 within 30 days in no more than two payments (Section 36(3)).
• Operators may not lend to players or give them credit (Section 41(3) and (4)).
• The law itself sets no deposit, loss or time limits.

Advertising

The ban

Advertising gambling, and advertising online gambling websites, is prohibited outside gambling venues. Inside a venue, only the venue's name and the operator's registered trademark may be shown (Section 41(5); the words on websites were added in April 2021).

The sports exception, since 1 April 2026

The registered figurative trademarks (logos) of a Latvian-licensed betting and totalisator operator may now appear in four settings, all involving adult athletes (Section 41(5.1)):

• at competitions organised by recognised sports federations, at the venue and during the event
• in the names of competitions, clubs and leagues
• on athletes' kits, equipment and merchandise
• in sponsorship announcements by sports organisations and athletes about the specific event

The logo may not invite anyone, directly or indirectly, to gamble or to visit a gambling venue, and may not suggest that gambling brings social or economic success (Section 41(5.2)). At competition venues and in sponsorship announcements, a clearly visible notice must say that gambling is for people aged 18 and over, and give information on the self-exclusion register, including the website where a person can sign up (Section 41(5.3)). The exception names betting and totalisator operators only. The Cabinet must assess its effect on society, on tax revenue and on funding for high-performance sport by 1 May 2027 (transitional provision 36, added by the amending law of 3 December 2025).

Unlicensed operators

Gambling may be offered in Latvia only under a VID licence (Section 3(1)). VID can order internet providers and the .lv registry to block an unlicensed operator's domain or IP address within five working days (Electronic Communications Law, Section 110; Cabinet Regulation No. 114). Banks and payment institutions may not serve operators named in its decisions (Payment Services and Electronic Money Law, Section 44.2; Credit Institutions Law, Section 65(4)). VID publishes both lists.

Gambling venues

• Minimum size. A casino needs at least 10 gaming tables in Riga and 5 elsewhere (Section 21). A gaming hall needs at least 20 slot machines (Section 22).
• Slot machines. They are allowed only in casinos and gaming halls, and must be connected to VID's central monitoring system (Section 24).
• Banned locations. The places where gambling may not be organised include state institutions, places of worship, healthcare and educational buildings, pharmacies, post offices and banks, markets, residential buildings sharing an entrance with the flats, or places a municipality has excluded. In shops, stations, airports, ports and cultural institutions, only gaming halls and betting shops in separate premises with their own street entrance are allowed. Bars and cafés may host betting only (Section 41(2)).
• Municipal permit. Every venue needs a permit from the municipality, whose council decides case by case whether gambling at the address would significantly harm the interests of the state or local residents (Section 42). A casino in a four- or five-star hotel needs no municipal permit.
• Revocation. The council may revoke a permit by a reasoned decision, and the permit then expires five years after that decision takes effect (Section 42(6) and (7)). Municipalities may also adopt binding regulations listing the places and areas where gambling is not allowed (Section 42(10)).

Riga and Daugavpils

Riga. The city's binding regulations No. RD-25-330-sn, in force since 1 April 2025, ban gambling outside four- and five-star hotels in these places:

• on municipal property and in neighbourhood centres
• on school premises and within 300 m of them
• at railway and bus stations, airports and passenger ports, and within 500 m of them
• within 300 m of any other public transport stop
• in residential zones and within 300 m of their boundaries
• at cultural monuments

Existing permits in these places lapse five years after the council's decision. Alfor, Klondaika and Olympic Casino Latvia have challenged the rules at the Constitutional Court (case 2025-32-03). A second application, from Joker Ltd, is marked as merged. The court hears the case in written procedure on 27 October 2026. The same court struck down Riga's earlier city-wide ban in April 2024 (case 2023-27-03).

Daugavpils. Under the city's binding regulations No. 35, in force since 7 November 2024, a gambling hall's main entrance must be at least 150 m from the nearest entrance of a building that houses any of these:

• a municipal institution
• a place of worship
• a school or sports school
• a post office or bank
• a social services site
• a dormitory
• flats

Operators have challenged it at the Constitutional Court (cases 2025-22-03 and 2025-34-03, merged). The written hearing took place on 18 September 2026, and the court said its ruling would follow within 30 days.

What is pending

• Gambling age of 21. A Cabinet bill to raise the gambling age to 21 (Saeima bill No. 705/Lp14), with a companion bill amending the Advertising Law, was referred to committee on 26 September 2024 and has had no first reading. It now depends on the Saeima elected on 3 October 2026. Until a change is adopted, the minimum age stays 18.
• Review of the sports exception. Due from the Cabinet by 1 May 2027.
• 2027 budget. No proposal on gambling tax has been published. The Finance Ministry leaves 2027 policy decisions to the government formed after the October 2026 Saeima election.
• Constitutional Court rulings. The Daugavpils distance rule was heard on 18 September 2026, with the ruling due within 30 days. Riga's location rules will be heard on 27 October 2026.
• Next statistics. VID's figures for the third quarter of 2026 are scheduled for 4 November 2026.

The market in figures

• Gross gaming revenue in the first half of 2026: EUR 150.6 million, up 6.7% on a year earlier. Online gambling made up EUR 91.1 million, or 60.5%, up 13.4%.
• Online revenue by product in the first half of 2026: casino games 85.0%, betting 13.1%, poker 1.9%.
• Second quarter of 2026: EUR 77.8 million in total, EUR 47.0 million of it online.
• Full year 2025: EUR 299.6 million, with online at 57.0%.
• End of June 2026: 160 gaming halls, 3,913 slot machines (371 fewer than a year earlier), 2 casinos and 73 betting points.

Source: VID's market statistics, release of 6 August 2026. VID's official quarterly series differs from the release by less than EUR 20,000 a quarter; the figures above all come from the release.

Change log

• 11 October 2026: page first published, checked against the law in force from 1 April 2026.
• 1 April 2026: VID replaces the Inspection as regulator; the sports-logo exception to the advertising ban; blocking powers move to VID; new transitional provisions 32 to 36.
• 1 January 2026: gambling tax increases (online 15%, betting and totalisator 18%, bingo 12%, EUR 7,440 per machine place, EUR 40,440 per table).
• 1 January 2025: lottery tax up from 10% to 15%; annual licence re-registration fee up from EUR 37,000 to EUR 45,000; changes for lotteries only in the Gambling and Lotteries Law.
• 1 January 2024: online gambling tax up from 10% to 12%; EUR 6,204 per machine place and EUR 33,696 per table.

Sources

• Gambling and Lotteries Law, consolidated version in force from 1 April 2026 (Latvian). The official English translation reflects the version in force until 31 December 2024.
• On Lotteries and Gambling Fee and Tax, consolidated version in force from 1 April 2026 (Latvian).
• Personal Income Tax Law, version in force from 1 January 2026 (Latvian).
• Cabinet Regulation No. 333 on the self-exclusion register and Cabinet Regulation No. 114 on blocking.
• Finance Ministry, Changes in taxation and finances from 2026 (English).
• VID, market statistics (English) and licensed operators (Latvian).

This page explains the law; it is not legal advice. If you spot an error or a change we have missed, write to hello@spinspilot.com and we will correct the page and record it in the change log.