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 gaming tax on Malta-player revenue only (15% on Type 1 games and 10% on Types 2 to 4 since 1 October 2026, previously a flat 5%), 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 applies only to revenue from players in Malta: since 1 October 2026 it is 15 per cent of gaming revenue from Type 1 games and 10 per cent from Types 2 to 4, in place of the earlier flat 5 per cent; a 5 per cent rate applies to controlled gaming premises and junkets. For services offered solely at a distance the test is whether the player is established, has a permanent address or usually resides 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 B2C 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. For an operator serving mainly foreign markets, 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.

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