Malta Gaming Licence Cost 2026: MGA Fees, the Compliance Contribution and the October Tax Change

Five payments, not three

Most guides list an application fee, an annual fee and a 5% tax. The law sets five separate charges, paid on different bases, and one of them is usually missing.

Payment	Amount	Charged on	Source
Application fee	EUR 5,000 once; EUR 5,000 again to renew	Each application	S.L. 583.03, Fourth Schedule
Annual licence fee	EUR 25,000 (EUR 10,000 if only Type 4)	Flat, each year	S.L. 583.03, First Schedule
Compliance contribution	Tiered by type, from a EUR 5,000 minimum (Type 4) to a EUR 600,000 cap (Type 2) a year	All gaming revenue	S.L. 583.03, First Schedule
Gaming tax	5%, then 15% or 10% from 1 October 2026	Revenue from players in Malta only	S.L. 583.10, L.N. 84 of 2026
Corporate tax	35% headline rate	Company profit	Income Tax Act

Capital is a sixth line on many quotes, but it is money held in the company rather than a charge: EUR 100,000 for a Type 1 or Type 2 licence, EUR 40,000 for Type 3, Type 4 or critical gaming supply, with a cumulative cap of EUR 240,000 under the MGA’s Capital Requirements Policy.

The compliance contribution decides the bill

The compliance contribution is paid to the MGA on gaming revenue, in bands set by game type, with a minimum and a maximum each year. It is paid monthly, by the 20th of the following month. New operators are exempt from the minimum in their first financial year, and start-ups that meet the criteria in regulation 9 can get a twelve-month moratorium.

Type	Bands	Minimum	Maximum
Type 1 (casino, lotteries)	1.25% on the first EUR 3m, falling to 0.40%	EUR 15,000	EUR 375,000
Type 2 (fixed-odds betting)	4.00% on the first EUR 3m, falling to 0.40%	EUR 25,000	EUR 600,000
Type 3 (peer-to-peer, poker, bingo, exchange)	4.00% on the first EUR 2m, falling to 0.40%	EUR 25,000	EUR 500,000
Type 4 (controlled skill games)	0.50% on the first EUR 2m, rising to 2.00%	EUR 5,000	EUR 500,000

Here is what the bands produce at different revenue levels, computed from the First Schedule:

Gaming revenue	Type 1	Type 2	Type 3
EUR 1m	15,000 (the minimum)	40,000	40,000
EUR 5m	57,500	180,000	170,000
EUR 10m	103,750	305,000	270,000
EUR 25m	205,000	470,000	390,000
EUR 50m	312,500	600,000 (the cap)	500,000 (the cap)

On the same revenue a sportsbook pays about three times what a casino pays. That gap is larger than any difference in the fixed fees, and it is why a Malta cost quote that does not ask what you offer is not a quote.

The contribution is a fee to the regulator. It does not feed a player-compensation fund: Malta protects player money by segregation under the Player Protection Directive, not by insurance.

Gaming tax: only players in Malta

Gaming tax has only ever been charged on revenue from players in Malta. Until 30 September 2026 the rate is 5%. Legal Notice 84 of 2026 replaces it from 1 October 2026:

• 15% of revenue from Type 1 gaming services;
• 10% of revenue from Type 2, Type 3 and Type 4 gaming services.

For remote gaming, the new text also changes the test. Instead of whether the player is physically present in Malta when playing, it asks whether the player is established, has a permanent address or usually resides in Malta. For an operator serving other markets, the gaming tax stays small whatever the rate.

The same notice deletes the gaming device levy and replaces it with a flat EUR 3,000 a year for critical-supply licensees that operate a broadcast studio. Legal Notice 86 of 2026, in force the same day, narrows the VAT exemption for gaming; take advice on how it applies to your model.

A worked year

Take a Type 1 casino licence with EUR 10 million of gaming revenue, 3% of it from players resident in Malta. The 3% is an assumption for the example.

Charge	Before 1 Oct 2026	From 1 Oct 2026
Annual licence fee	25,000	25,000
Compliance contribution	103,750	103,750
Gaming tax on EUR 300,000 of Malta revenue	15,000 (5%)	45,000 (15%)
Total, before corporate tax	143,750	173,750

A Type 2 sportsbook with the same revenue and the same Malta share would pay EUR 25,000, EUR 305,000 in compliance contribution and EUR 30,000 of gaming tax at 10%: EUR 360,000 a year.

B2B suppliers

A critical gaming supply licence pays the same EUR 5,000 to apply and an annual fee banded by the supplier’s revenue: EUR 25,000 up to EUR 5 million, EUR 30,000 up to EUR 10 million, EUR 35,000 above. A supplier of only Type 4 games pays EUR 10,000. Back-office supply pays EUR 3,000 up to EUR 1 million and EUR 5,000 above.

Timing

The MGA sets no statutory decision period; advisers report six to twelve months. The licence is granted for ten years. After the grant the operator has 90 days to go live, and a separate 90 days from going live to complete its compliance audit.

How it compares

For the licence itself, see the Malta licence profile, and for the application steps, the MGA B2C application guide. For every jurisdiction’s fees in one table, see what a gambling licence costs in 2026.