Malta
The Gaming Act 2018 (Chapter 583) consolidated Malta's earlier multi-licence framework into a single, technology-neutral, risk-based regime with two licence classes — B2C (Gaming Service) and B2B (Critical Gaming Supply) — each spanning game Types 1 to 4. As an EU/EEA regulator the MGA is widely recognised, though many EU states now require their own domestic licences, so an MGA licence alone can mean grey-market exposure in those markets. Operators pay a 5% gaming tax on Malta-player revenue only, plus a fixed annual licence fee and a variable compliance contribution tied to gaming revenue.
One licence, four types
The 2018 regime replaced the earlier multi-class licences with a single authorisation split only two ways: a B2C Gaming Service licence for operators facing players, and a B2B Critical Gaming Supply licence for firms supplying gaming or platform components. Game Types 1 to 4 are not separate licences but scope tags recorded on one authorisation, so a single operator may run casino RNG, fixed-odds betting, peer-to-peer poker and skill games under one instrument. Being technology-neutral, the framework is drafted to cover channels and products not yet named, reducing the need to relicense as offerings change.
Getting and keeping it
Authorisation turns on people as much as product. Applicants undergo fit-and-proper and business-plan scrutiny, and must fill defined key functions, each held by a person the MGA has separately approved, including a money-laundering reporting officer. The licence is not a one-off clearance: holders face ongoing compliance audits, system and technical reviews, and reporting obligations across the ten-year term. Player-funds protection and segregation duties sit alongside these, so client balances are treated as ringfenced rather than working capital. Approvals may be suspended or cancelled where key-function or funding conditions lapse.
Three separate charges
Malta separates three charges that are easily conflated. Gaming tax of five per cent applies only to revenue from players physically present in Malta, so an operator serving mainly foreign markets from Malta pays little or none of it, though that revenue remains within Malta corporate tax and its refund mechanisms. Independently, every licensee owes a compliance contribution calculated monthly as banded percentages of gaming revenue, with type-specific floors and ceilings. The fixed annual licence fee is a third, flat charge. Headline economics therefore depend far more on the compliance contribution than on gaming tax.
Recognition, not access
An MGA licence is an EU/EEA authorisation and is widely recognised, but recognition does not equal market access. Several member states, including Germany and the Netherlands, now operate their own licensing regimes and require a domestic permit to serve their residents lawfully. In those markets an MGA licence alone does not authorise activity, so continued targeting of local players can amount to grey-market or unlawful supply under national law. The practical reading is that the licence governs conduct from Malta, while each destination market sets its own condition of entry.
An AML regime too
Beyond gaming rules, licensees are subject persons under Malta's anti-money-laundering regulations, the PMLFTR. Supervision is shared: the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit is the statutory AML authority, while the MGA monitors gaming licensees' compliance as its agent and refers breaches back to it. Operators must run customer due diligence, risk assessments and suspicious-transaction reporting, and complete the FIAU's annual Risk Evaluation Questionnaire. This makes AML failings, not only gaming-rule breaches, a live source of enforcement, and it ties the gaming licence to a separate body of financial-crime obligation.
Tax
Gaming revenue (GGR) from Malta-based players only
5% gaming tax
The 5% applies only to revenue from players established, resident or usually located in Malta; revenue from foreign players is outside the Malta gaming tax (though within Malta corporate tax, subject to refund mechanisms). Separate from the compliance contribution and licence fees.
Key facts
Compare Malta head-to-head
RTP rules
No statutory minimum RTP. The Gaming Authorisations and Compliance Directive (Directive 3 of 2018) sets no payout-percentage floor; the regime turns on certification of the random number generator and game engine rather than a minimum return.
The Directive requires games to be conducted in a fair and honest manner and to be certified, but codifies no player-facing duty to display the RTP figure; fairness is carried through the certified game engine and the published game rules.
Licence types
Fees
Change-watch
Bill 55 (Gaming Act amendment) shields MGA licensees from enforcement in Malta of certain foreign judgments contrary to Malta's regime — controversial with other EU states
MGA continued tightening AML and player-protection technical/reporting requirements amid ongoing EU pressure over cross-border licensing
Consolidated gaming-tax and VAT framework takes effect: the gaming tax and gaming-device levy are merged into a single gaming-tax structure classified by game type for operators serving Malta-based players, with clarified VAT treatment (published 1 April 2026)
MGA set out its 2026 supervisory priorities: cash and cash-equivalent controls, crypto-asset use, sports-integrity and athlete betting, and the quality of ADR reporting
Sources (6)
Not legal or tax advice. This is a teaching summary; confirm every figure against the primary regulator (Malta Gaming Authority) before relying on it.