The German state earns billions annually through taxes on regulated gaming in Germany. These tax revenues are a matter for the federal states and therefore differ according to the federal state and type of game, depending on the respective gambling offer. In the following, we consider the amount of income from taxes on the individual types of gaming in the regulated market for both Germany as a whole and for the individual federal states.

How much does the state earn from gambling tax revenues?

In Germany, the state has the monopoly on the organization of games of chance and holds a hand on gaming revenues. Since a large part of the income ends up with the tax authorities, some citizens see the entire stake as a "voluntary tax". The fact is that the taxation of gambling is regulated in the German gambling laws of the federal states and can therefore differ from country to country. But what types of taxes are there for gambling?

Different types of taxes for gambling in Germany

• Casino tax : This tax is paid by the operators of the state casinos and gaming houses to the tax authorities. The levy is almost as old as the first casinos in Germany.
• Racing betting and lottery tax : The state uses this to tax stakes in horse betting, sports betting and lotteries. This does not include additional fees from the lottery organizers that are intended for charitable purposes. The federal states are entitled to the income from the racing betting and lottery tax. A tax of 5% of the stake applies to betting. The amount of the lottery tax is 20% of the ticket price for domestic lotteries and 25% of the ticket price for foreign lotteries.
• Amusement tax: The gaming machine tax, as part of the German amusement tax, taxed gaming machines and slot machines. The competence here lies with the federal states and the income flows to the municipalities. In most cases, the tax is based on gaming revenue at a tax rate of 10% to 13%.
• Trade tax: The installation and operation of gaming machines is a business that is subject to registration in Germany. Traders pay a trade tax on their income, which is due to the municipalities.
• Sales tax: Sales tax is due on the sales of an entrepreneur from the operation of gaming machines with profit opportunity.

The online gaming market, which has not yet been regulated, has not yet been taken into account, but the upcoming legalization in summer 2021 means that further tax revenues can be expected in the future. 

You can also read on Casinoonline.de how it behaves with taxes on income from gambling from a player's point of view.

Tax revenue from gambling in Germany 2019, by type of tax

Germany generated tax revenues of around 1.5 billion euros in 2019 through the lottery tax. The other taxes include the casino tax of around 34 million euros.

Racing betting and lottery tax until 2019

All German federal states together collected racing betting and lottery tax of 1.97 billion euros in 2019. After deducting the 1.5 billion euros in lottery income, the result is a little less than 500 million euros for horse and sports betting.

Casino tax

The total tax revenue of all federal states in Germany amounted to 34 million euros in 2019. However, only the state casinos are included here, not the arcades operated by private providers with a license.

Commercial gaming machines

In 2013, the German state generated around 1.8 billion euros in tax revenue from commercial gaming machines. In the following year, 2014, the tax income was around 1.12 billion euros.

Gambling tax revenue in Germany by federal state

How much do the individual countries take in taxes on gambling? In the following, we show the total income and also break down the racing betting and lottery tax, the casino tax and the entertainment tax for 2019 by federal state.

Overview map: total gambling tax revenues of the countries

Gambling tax revenue of the countries by tax type

The following table shows the tax revenue from gambling for the year 2019 in the individual federal states and Germany as a whole for the different types of tax. All amounts are given in millions of euros (except for the total amount).

Sources:

• https://gluecksspiel.uni-hohenheim.de/fileadmin/einrichtungen/gluecksspiel/Oekonomie/jahresreport_2019.pdf
• https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Staat/Steuern/Steuereinrichtungen/Publikationen/Downloads-Steuerhaushalt/steuerhaushalt-jahr-2140400197004.pdf
• https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/507127/Wie-auch-Vater-Staat-am-Gluecksspiel-mitverdient
• https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/
• https://casinova.org/no-deposit-casinos/
• https://www.deutscher-spielbankenverband.de/