🇩🇪 Germany · Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL)

Germany Online Gambling Licence — 2026

One GGL permit covers all 16 Länder for sports betting, virtual slots, online poker and online horse betting; online roulette and blackjack stay with the Länder. 5.3% tax on stakes, a EUR 5m bank guarantee, and 73 online B2C permits on the whitelist on 11 November 2026.

Tier 2 — Credible domestic / EU regional

Germany regulates online gambling through the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021 (GlüStV 2021), a treaty between the 16 Länder in force since 1 July 2021. Online gambling is allowed only for lottery sales and brokerage, sports and horse betting, online casino games, virtual slot games and online poker (§ 4 (4)); everything else online is prohibited.

The Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) in Halle issues one permit, valid in all Länder, for sports betting, virtual slot games, online poker and online horse betting. Online casino table games are different: under § 22c each Land runs them itself or grants a limited number of concessions. On the GGL whitelist read on 11 November 2026, only Schleswig-Holstein (four holders) and Bavaria (its state casino administration) had entries for them.

The economics are set by a stake tax. Sports betting, slots and poker pay 5.3% of stakes net of the tax under the federal Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz, whatever the payout ratio. Add a EUR 5 million bank guarantee, a permit fee that scales with forecast stakes, a EUR 1 slot stake limit and a EUR 1,000 monthly deposit limit across operators, and Germany is a market for operators who design their products around the rules rather than import them.

Quick facts

Regulator	Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder ↗
Tier	Tier 2 — Credible domestic / EU regional
Licence types	Sports betting permit (§§ 4a–4d, 21 GlüStV 2021), Virtual slot games permit (virtuelle Automatenspiele, § 22a), Online poker permit (§ 22b), Online horse betting permit (§ 27 (2)), Online casino table games: not a GGL permit; each Land runs them itself or grants concessions (§ 22c)
Application cost	Permit fee set by § 9a (4) GlüStV 2021 on approved or forecast stakes in all Länder: 0.2% up to EUR 40 million (minimum EUR 100), EUR 80,000 plus 0.16% above EUR 40 million, EUR 120,000 plus 0.1% above EUR 65 million, EUR 185,000 plus 0.06% above EUR 130 million; each later year of the permit 10% lower. At EUR 100 million of stakes a year: EUR 155,000 in year one, EUR 713,000 over a five-year permit
Annual cost	No fixed annual licence fee; the § 9a fee is calculated for each permit year. LUGAS central-file charge of 0.389 cent per query (deposits, limit changes, player records), valid from 1 January 2023. Supervisory orders cost EUR 500 to EUR 500,000 each
Gaming tax	5.3% of stakes for sports betting, virtual slot games and online poker under the Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz (§§ 17–18, 37–38, 47–48). The base is stakes less the tax itself, so the tax equals 5.033% of gross stakes; at a 96% payout ratio that is 125.8% of GGR. Monthly return and payment by the 15th of the next month (§ 41). Online casino table games are taxed under Land law, not the RennwLottG
Corporate tax	Corporate income tax 15% to 2027, falling by one point a year to 10% from 2032 (KStG § 23), plus 5.5% solidarity surcharge on it (SolZG § 4) and municipal trade tax at a rate set by each municipality. Most GGL licensees are Maltese companies
Substance	Seat in an EU or EEA state (§ 4a (1) no. 3 (b) GlüStV 2021); an authorised representative in Germany if there is no seat in Germany; separate bookkeeping for German play and payments; a payment account in Germany or at an EU bank; real-time interfaces for checking every game transaction. EUR 5 million unlimited bank guarantee from an EU/EEA bank, which the GGL can raise to one month's expected average turnover, up to EUR 50 million (§ 4c (3))
Timeline	The GGL publishes no processing time. Permits run five years on first grant and seven on later grants (§ 4c (1))

Pros

One permit valid in all 16 Länder (§ 9a (1) GlüStV 2021)
Applications at any time; no tender for sports betting, slots or poker
Five-year first term and seven-year renewals
Fee scales with stakes, so a small operator pays 0.2% of forecast stakes rather than a fixed sum

Cons

5.3% tax on stakes: larger than gross revenue on any slot paying back more than about 95%
EUR 1 stake limit on slots by statute; up to EUR 3 or EUR 5 only for qualifying players and only until 31 December 2027
EUR 1,000 monthly deposit limit across all operators; the exception allowing higher limits ends on 31 December 2026 at the latest
No GGL permit for online roulette or blackjack; only Schleswig-Holstein and Bavaria have whitelist entries for table games
Strict product rules: five-second average spin, no autoplay, no jackpots, one game at a time, a one-minute wait between product areas
Unlicensed gambling anywhere in the group bars the permit (§ 4a (1) no. 1 (d))

Best for

Sportsbooks and slot operators that want the largest licensed EU market and can work with a stake tax
EU-based groups, especially Maltese companies, which hold 27 of the 36 slot permits and 24 of the 27 sports betting permits
Operators with low-margin product design, since the tax ignores payout ratios

Who holds a German permit

We counted the GGL's official whitelist (§ 9 (8) GlüStV 2021) on 11 November 2026. It lists 129 permits under GGL supervision, the figure the GGL itself gave on 22 September 2026. 73 of them are online B2C permits: 36 for virtual slot games on 98 domains, 27 for sports betting on 33 domains, 5 for online poker and 5 for online horse betting, held by 50 companies on 125 unique domains. The other 56 are lotteries, lottery agents, commercial brokers and social lotteries. Maltese companies hold 27 of the 36 slot permits and 24 of the 27 sports betting permits; one slot licensee, Skill On Net Limited, carries 41 of the 98 slot domains. Seventeen companies hold both a slot and a sports betting permit.

What a German permit costs

Three costs come from the treaty. The bank guarantee is EUR 5 million (§ 4c (3)), unlimited and directly enforceable, from an EU or EEA bank; the GGL can raise it to one month's expected average turnover, up to EUR 50 million, and a new guarantee is needed for each new permit period. The permit fee (§ 9a (4)) is calculated on approved or forecast stakes in all Länder, separately for each year, with later years 10% lower: EUR 20,000 a year at EUR 10 million of stakes, EUR 155,000 in year one at EUR 100 million, EUR 707,000 in year one at EUR 1 billion. A broker's permit costs half. The tax is 5.3% of stakes net of the tax for sports betting, slots and poker (RennwLottG §§ 18, 38, 48), equal to 5.033% of gross stakes. The LUGAS central limit file charges 0.389 cent per query.

Online roulette and blackjack are not GGL products

Section 22a (2) bans virtual slot games that correspond to banked table games such as roulette, blackjack or baccarat, and § 22a (11) bans the words 'Casino' and 'Casinospiele' in a slot offer and its advertising. Online casino table games fall under § 22c: a Land may operate them itself, through a public body or a company it controls, or grant concessions, at most as many as its casino law allowed for land-based casinos on 17 January 2020. On 11 November 2026 the whitelist listed Merkur Bets Malta, NOVOLINE.DE, Skill On Net and Tipico Karlsruhe for Schleswig-Holstein, and Bavaria's Staatliche Lotterie- und Spielbankverwaltung for Bavaria. No other Land had an entry.

Product rules that shape the business

Every online player sets a monthly deposit limit across all operators, at most EUR 1,000 (§ 6c (1)), checked in real time against the LUGAS file; increases take effect after seven days (§ 6c (3)). Slots are capped at EUR 1 a spin (§ 22a (7)), must last at least five seconds on average (§ 22a (6)), start only on a fresh player action, cannot be played in parallel and cannot build jackpots (§ 22a (4), (8), (10)). Each product sits in its own area of a domain, with a one-minute wait before switching and a one-hour wait before winnings can be used in another area (§ 4 (5) no. 5). Online poker is one table at a time unless the GGL allows up to four (§ 22b (5)).

What changes in 2026 and 2027

From 1 July 2026 slot operators may allow stakes above EUR 1 for individual players under a GGL decision guideline: up to EUR 3 for players aged 21 or older, and up to EUR 5 for players who have also passed 90 days without risk flags in the operator's § 6i monitoring, with dedicated monitoring reported to the regulator every quarter and the player's consent to the data processing. The increase is voluntary and runs until 31 December 2027 at the latest. The separate GGL guideline allowing deposit limits above EUR 1,000 applies until 31 December 2026 at the latest: up to EUR 10,000 with documented affordability re-checked yearly, and up to EUR 30,000 for at most 1% of an operator's active players aged 21 or older. The Länder's summary evaluation report on the treaty is due by 31 December 2026 (§ 32), and the earliest date any Land can leave the treaty is 31 December 2028 (§ 35 (4)).

How to check a German licence

Search the GGL whitelist by company or domain and filter by product and by supervising authority. Each entry shows the company, its address, the product, the territory (all Länder, or one Land for table games and casinos), the supervising authority and every permitted domain. Licensed operators must state on their homepage that they hold a German permit and which authority granted it (§ 6e (3)). A domain that is not on the whitelist is not licensed in Germany, whatever licence its footer shows.

Application process

Use or set up a company seated in the EU or EEA; appoint an authorised representative in Germany if it has no German seat
Disclose the full ownership chain down to every holder of more than 5% of capital or voting rights and every trust arrangement (§ 4a (1) no. 1 (a))
Prepare, in German, the security concept, social concept and a business plan that works after the 5.3% stake tax (§ 4b (1)); foreign documents as certified copies with certified translations
Attach the home-state gambling licence if seated abroad and registry extracts no older than three months (GGL Merkblatt, June 2026)
Arrange the EUR 5 million unlimited bank guarantee from an EU/EEA bank
Connect to LUGAS, the central limit and activity files, and to the central player-exclusion file (Sperrdatei, § 8); provide real-time interfaces for the GGL
Apply to the GGL; slot and poker operators also need each game or poker variant approved before offering it (§§ 22a (1), 22b (1))
Permit for five years on first grant; file the monthly RennwLottG tax return by the 15th

Operational realities

Capital requirements

No fixed minimum share capital in the treaty. The applicant must have enough own funds for lasting operation and show a business case that works after taxes (§ 4a (1) no. 2), and must provide a EUR 5 million bank guarantee (§ 4c (3)).

Player protection

EUR 1,000 monthly deposit limit across all operators checked in LUGAS (§ 6c); check against the central player-exclusion file (§ 8); operator monitoring for risky play (§ 6i); EUR 1 slot stake limit with the 2026–2027 exceptions; five-second spins, no autoplay or jackpots; no lending to players (§ 4 (5) no. 2).

Banking & payment processing

Game-related payments must run through an account in Germany or at a credit institution in an EU member state (§ 4a (1) no. 3 (d)). Taking part in payments for unlicensed gambling is prohibited (§ 4 (1)), which the GGL enforces against payment providers.

B2B vs B2C licensing

The GGL licenses operators, not suppliers, but every slot game and poker variant needs its own approval before launch (§§ 22a (1), 22b (1)), so supplier content is assessed game by game through the operator.

Recent developments (2025-2026)

Since 1 July 2026 a GGL decision guideline under § 22a (7) GlüStV 2021 lets slot operators allow stakes above EUR 1: up to EUR 3 for players aged 21 or older and up to EUR 5 after 90 days without risk flags in monitoring, until 31 December 2027. The GGL guideline allowing deposit limits above EUR 1,000 (up to EUR 10,000, and up to EUR 30,000 for at most 1% of active players) applies until 31 December 2026 at the latest. The Länder's summary evaluation report on the treaty is due by 31 December 2026 (§ 32). In its five-year review of 22 September 2026 the GGL reported 129 permits under its supervision, 287 prohibition proceedings against illegal offers in 2025 and two permits revoked so far.

How it compares

Versus the Netherlands: both require an EU/EEA seat, but the Netherlands taxes GGR at 37.8% plus a 1.95% levy while Germany taxes stakes at 5.3%, which is heavier on high-payout slots and lighter on low-margin sports books. Versus Malta: an MGA licence is the home base of most GGL licensees but does not reach German players on its own.

Frequently asked questions

Who issues online gambling licences in Germany?

The GGL in Halle issues permits for sports betting, virtual slots, online poker and online horse betting, valid in all 16 Länder. Online roulette and blackjack are licensed by the individual Länder under § 22c GlüStV 2021.

How much does a German online gambling licence cost?

There is no flat fee. The permit fee is 0.2% of forecast stakes up to EUR 40 million, falling to 0.06% above EUR 130 million, plus a EUR 5 million bank guarantee and 5.3% tax on stakes.

What is the German online gambling tax?

5.3% of stakes, net of the tax itself, for sports betting, virtual slots and online poker (Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz). That equals 5.033% of gross stakes, whatever the payout ratio.

How many operators are licensed in Germany?

On 11 November 2026 the GGL whitelist showed 129 permits under GGL supervision, 73 of them online B2C permits (36 slots, 27 sports betting, 5 poker, 5 horse betting) held by 50 companies.

What is the slot stake limit in Germany?

EUR 1 a spin by statute. Since 1 July 2026 operators may allow up to EUR 3 for players aged 21 or older and up to EUR 5 after 90 clean days, until 31 December 2027.

Does a Malta licence allow serving German players?

No. Serving German players requires a German permit. Most GGL licensees are Maltese companies, but each holds its own German permit and is listed on the GGL whitelist.

Named experts covering Germany

Real, publicly-verifiable practitioners whose work informs our coverage of this jurisdiction.

Dr Jörg Hofmann Partner · Melchers German gambling law · State Treaty on Gambling · Licensing

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