Guernsey Gambling Licence 2026: What Guernsey Licenses and What the AGCC Charges

The short answer

Guernsey has a gambling regulator and it does not license online operators. The Committee for Home Affairs licenses local activity under the Gambling (Guernsey) Law, 1971. Online gambling across the Bailiwick of Guernsey is licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), which sits on a different island and under different legislation.

That matters because the page Google shows first for “guernsey gaming license cost” is the government’s gambling page. It is accurate and it is no use to an operator.

What Guernsey’s own regulator licenses

The States of Guernsey page says the Committee for Home Affairs is “responsible for the licensing, registration and regulation of gambling”, that the primary legislation is the Gambling (Guernsey) Law, 1971, and that other Ordinances cover specific types. We read it from an archived snapshot dated 14 February 2026; the live site refused connections from our server on 5 October 2026, but the page still ranks first in Google for the query that day.

Activity	What the page says
Bookmakers and betting offices	Governed by the Gambling (Betting) Ordinance, 1973, which limits the number of bookmakers in Guernsey
Cinema racing	Event application; the permit is free
Crown and Anchor	Operators need an annual licence valid to 31 December; a table permit costs GBP 100 per day per table
Private lotteries (raffles)	Permit for charitable or society purposes; tickets no more than GBP 1 unless specifically permitted; permit free
Bingo	Treated as gaming under the 1971 Law, with conditions including no private gain if played in public

We searched the snapshot for “Alderney”, “eGambling”, “AGCC”, “remote”, “casino” and “Control Commission”. None appears. The only online references are fillable forms and a rule that raffle tickets sold from a society website must still be handed over in person.

The rule the page quotes about strangers

In its answer on selling lottery tickets online, Home Affairs quotes the Law: “no person shall, whether as principal or as servant conduct any business in the course of which any gambling transaction is negotiated or entered into with, or on behalf of a stranger”. It defines a stranger as “a person who is not actually present in the Bailiwick of Guernsey”, including a body corporate “whether incorporated in the Bailiwick of Guernsey or elsewhere”.

Read plainly, the Guernsey statute is built around players who are physically in the Bailiwick, which is the opposite of a remote-gaming licence. We have not opened the statute itself, because the Guernsey legal resources site blocked our requests, so we cannot give you the section number or tell you how the Law interacts with the Alderney legislation. The quotation is the government’s own, from a lottery answer. Treat it as the reason Guernsey is not the licensing route, not as legal advice on a Guernsey-resident operator.

Where the online licence actually comes from

Alderney forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The AGCC says it “regulates online gaming and gambling”, and the fee schedule sits in the Alderney eGambling Ordinance, 2009, its Regulations, and the 2015 Amendment Ordinance. Our full read of that schedule is in the Alderney licence article; the Alderney profile summarises the licence types.

Two structural facts from the AGCC FAQ decide most of what follows. A Category 1 licence covers player management and a Category 2 licence covers effecting the gambling transaction. And “for Category 1 & 2 Licences, applications are made in the name of an Alderney registered company”. A foreign company applies for an Associate Certificate instead.

Two AGCC pages, two boundaries

This is the part no consultant page we read mentions.

AGCC page	How it defines the Associate Certificate
Licences and fees	”Suitable for businesses based outside of the Bailiwick of Guernsey”
FAQ, which licence do I need	”For foreign-based companies”; for platforms “located outside of Alderney”
FAQ, licence requirements	Category 1 and 2 licences are applied for in the name of an Alderney registered company

A company incorporated on Guernsey is inside the Bailiwick and outside Alderney. On the fees page it would not need an Associate Certificate. On the FAQ’s requirements it could not hold a Category 1 or 2 licence. Both pages are on alderneygambling.com, and neither says which reading wins. We did not find the rule that settles it.

If you plan a Guernsey company, ask the Commission which licence it would issue and get the answer in writing before you build a budget on the cheaper line.

What the AGCC charges

All figures are in GBP, from the AGCC fee schedule effective 1 April 2015, read on 5 October 2026.

Item	Licence (Alderney company)	Associate Certificate
Category 1, first year (no prior activity)	17,500	35,000
Category 1, later years	35,000 to 400,000 by yield band	50,000 plus band fee for bands B to G
Category 2, first year (no prior activity)	17,500	35,000
Category 2, later years	35,000 flat	50,000 flat
Initial investigation deposit	10,000	10,000
Supplementary deposit	10,000	1,000
Per gambling-business associate	3,000	3,000

The Category 1 Associate renewal is item 16C of the schedule: GBP 50,000 “plus an additional fee as set out at Items 4 to 9”. Items 4 to 9 are bands B to G. Band A, item 3, is not on that list, so on the schedule a band A holder pays GBP 50,000 and nothing more. The FAQ says “plus” the bands A to G, which would make band A GBP 85,000. The fees page lists a GBP 450,000 maximum, which only works if it is GBP 50,000 plus the GBP 400,000 band G fee. We follow the schedule and flag the FAQ wording.

Yield band (annualised net gaming yield)	Category 1 licence	Category 1 Associate	Difference
A: under 500k	35,000	50,000	15,000
B: 500k to 1m	60,000	110,000	50,000
C: 1m to 5m	80,000	130,000	50,000
D: 5m to 7.5m	130,000	180,000	50,000
E: 7.5m to 20m	200,000	250,000	50,000
F: 20m to 30m	290,000	340,000	50,000
G: 30m and over	400,000	450,000	50,000

Over the first five years, one intro year and four renewals in the same band, deposits and associate fees excluded:

Route	Licence	Associate Certificate	Extra for the Associate
Category 2	157,500	235,000	77,500
Category 1, band A	157,500	235,000	77,500
Category 1, bands B to G	17,500 + 4 × band fee	35,000 + 4 × (50,000 + band fee)	217,500

Band C, for example, is 337,500 against 555,000.

What a Guernsey base does and doesn’t give you

The AGCC FAQ says a physical presence in the Bailiwick “is not a requirement for regulatory purposes” for licence or certificate holders. An Alderney company needs a resident agent and a registered office; a Category 1 Associate Certificate needs a resident representative. The FAQ adds that “the indirect tax benefit of no VAT charged is afforded to those who choose to base themselves in the Bailiwick” and that it is for the operator to judge whether presence suits its model.

What the AGCC does not do is say what a Guernsey-island base earns you. Its tax statements are written for Alderney companies, and its economic-substance guidance is described in general terms. If tax is the reason you are looking at Guernsey, that is a question for a Guernsey tax adviser, not for the licensing page.

An AGCC licence also does not travel everywhere. The FAQ says some countries, the UK among them, require a local licence in addition. For how the fee compares with duty-based regimes, see the Isle of Man profile and the cost comparison across jurisdictions.

What we could not verify

• The text of the Gambling (Guernsey) Law, 1971. The legal resources site blocked us; the “stranger” wording is as quoted on the Home Affairs page.
• Whether a Guernsey-registered company is treated as an Alderney company or a foreign one. The AGCC’s pages use both boundaries.
• Whether band A in the Associate renewal adds the GBP 35,000 band fee. The schedule says no, the FAQ’s wording suggests yes.
• Investigation costs beyond the deposits. The AGCC does not print a tariff.
• Anything on the live gov.gg page after 14 February 2026, for the reason given above.