🇨🇿For operators · Tax, marketing & compliance
Operating in Czechia: 35% tax and compliance
Online gambling is legal with a Czech licence only: an introductory permit plus a basic permit per game kind from the Ministry of Finance, CZK 50 million of equity and a bail from CZK 20 million. Foreign licences give no right to serve Czech players, and unlicensed sites are listed for blocking.
Product by product
Every online operator needs the Ministry of Finance's introductory permit, a basic permit for each kind of game, a bail, and equity and net assets of at least CZK 50,000,000.| Product | Status | Licensed by | Tax | Key restriction | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports betting | Licensable | Ministry of Finance | 30% of stakes less winnings | A contract with a sports-integrity monitor is filed with the application; the result may not be produced by the operator's software | Allowed for licensed operators; must carry the under-18 statement and the Ministry's warning; no watershed |
| Online casino and slots | Licensable | Ministry of Finance, basic permit for technical games | 35% of stakes less winnings | Stake up to CZK 500 and win up to CZK 500,000 per game; 2 seconds minimum per game; a 15-minute break after 120 minutes of continuous play | Allowed for licensed operators under the same rules; bonuses carry conditions |
| Live casino | Limited | Ministry of Finance, basic permit for a live game | 30% of stakes less winnings | Streamed only from a studio inside a casino holding a Czech premises permit; another operator may run its game there under its own basic permit | Allowed for licensed operators under the same rules |
| Online poker | Licensable | As for Live casino | 30% of stakes less winnings | Played between players; a player may not sit more than once at the same table | As for Live casino |
| Lottery | Licensable | Ministry of Finance, basic permit per lottery kind | 35% of stakes less winnings | A separate basic permit for each kind; 2 seconds minimum from stake to result on an internet instant lottery | As for Live casino |
| Bingo | Licensable | Ministry of Finance, basic permit for bingo | 30% of stakes less winnings | One online entry on the register as of 1 October 2026 | As for Live casino |
Coming up1 Jan 2027Enacted, takes effect 1 January 2027
Which exclusion-register duty starts on 1 January 2027?
The Ministry must fill the exclusion register (RVO) with data from the central distraint register and the Financial and Customs administrations' records by 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027 the operator ban of section 17(1) (no entry to premises, no player account, no stake, no deposit) covers people entered as debtors in enforcement. As of 23 October 2026 no bill that names gambling in its title is before Parliament.
Regulator and player protection in Czechia
Self-exclusion scheme
Czech Self-Exclusion Register
How players exclude themselves; what it covers is in the player guide
Mandatory RG controls
No limit imposed on players
Deposit limits or reality checks the law requires operators to offer
Which casinos & betting sites are licensed in Czechia?
See the full official list of licensed operators and their authorised domains.
Heads-up for operators
3 items · last change 26 Oct 2026
Enacted but not yet in force (Act No. 349/2023 Sb.): by 31 December 2026 the Ministry of Finance must fill the register of excluded persons (RVO) with debtors in enforcement from the central register of executions and the Financial and Customs administrations, and from 1 January 2027 operators must refuse these persons an account, stakes and deposits (Gambling Act s. 17(1), s. 16a(1)(h)). The last amendment in force is Act No. 152/2025 Sb., from 1 October 2025: recipients of the state social assistance benefit with a subsistence component, and adult members of their household, are entered in the RVO ex officio (s. 16a), and operators may run a voluntary programme to reduce the impact of gambling (s. 15a). The Gambling Tax Act (Act No. 187/2016 Sb.) has been in the same wording since 1 January 2024. As of 23 October 2026 two government bills before the Chamber of Deputies amend the gambling laws in their body, and neither changes a tax rate, a fee or a licensing condition other than the accounts. Print 64 (laws conformed to the new Accounting Act; first reading 12 March 2026, Budget Committee consideration interrupted 30 April 2026, on the agenda of the 34th session from 13 October 2026) changes the audit and accounts duties of Gambling Act ss. 6, 87 and 89 and two cross-references of the Gambling Tax Act (s. 3(9)-(10)), from 1 January 2028. Print 321 (amendment of the Act on Addictive Substances, submitted 29 September 2026, on the agenda of the same session, no reading recorded by 23 October 2026) would have the Ministry publish the municipal coefficient of the gambling tax (s. 7(3)) in the Collection of Laws, from 1 January 2027.
Accounts and audit duties (print 64)
Government bill before the Chamber of Deputies as of 23 October 2026: changes the audit and accounts duties of Gambling Act ss. 6, 87 and 89 and two cross-references of the Gambling Tax Act; no rate or fee changes.
Source: 1
Debtors in enforcement barred
Enacted by Act No. 349/2023 Sb.: operators must refuse an account, stakes and deposits to persons entered in the RVO as debtors in enforcement.
Source: 2
Not yet in force: drafts, laws adopted without a start date, and sections of the law still to be commenced. An item moves to the timeline below on the day it takes effect.
Getting licensed: apply to the MF
The licence, its cost and the steps are in the licence guide
7 licence types: Introductory permit (úvodní povolení); Basic permit: lottery; Basic permit: fixed-odds betting; and others. Year-1 budget From CZK 20,005,000. Fees, requirements, documents, certification and the step-by-step route are set out there.Read the licence guide
Gambling tax: 35% of GGR
Detail
Gambling tax is 35% on lotteries and technical games and 30% on the other kinds, on deposits less wins paid and deposits returned. The operator files the return electronically each calendar quarter within 25 days of its end and pays by the same day.
Corporate income tax of 21% applies separately.
Which foreign licences Czechia accepts
Czechia does not recognise this foreign licence.
BlockedOther jurisdictions (general)
No foreign licence is recognised. An internet game available in the Czech Republic is treated as operated there and needs a Czech basic permit. An EU or EEA company may apply in its own name without a Czech subsidiary.
Bonus rules: welcome bonuses restricted
Inducement ads: Allowed
Bonuses are set by the Gambling Act and Decree No. 466/2023 Sb., their advertising by the Advertising Act. No wagering cap applies; certain risky bonuses are prohibited.
What the player can claim
- Welcome bonus
- Restricted
- VIP schemes
- Restricted
- Loyalty schemes
- Restricted
- Cashback
- Restricted
- technical games (slots)
A bonus is prohibited if its conditions are not described in the offer or told to you before you get it, if it stops you withdrawing money, if it is given after you asked to close the account, or if it rewards a contest of play, deposits or wins on technical games or with more than CZK 1,000 of your deposits in a day. Food, drinks and tobacco may not be given as an advantage.
What the operator can advertise
- Channels off-limits
- Exterior of gambling premises and their immediate vicinity
- Messages ads may not give
- Suggesting gambling is a source of income comparable to paid work
- Aiming at people under 18
- A bonus offer without at least a brief description of its conditions
- Mandatory disclaimer
Ministerstvo financí varuje: Účastí na hazardní hře může vzniknout závislost!
- Placement rule
- Must be visible and clear.
- Penalties
Advertising a game not licensed in Czechia: up to CZK 5,000,000 for a business that spreads it and up to CZK 2,000,000 for a natural person. Giving a prohibited bonus: up to CZK 5,000,000 for the operator.
The Ministry can cancel a permit where the operator breaches the Act.
In addition to the main warning, advertisements must include a statement prohibiting the participation of minors under 18.
Advertising: most channels open
Licensed operators may advertise in every medium, with no watershed. Every gambling advertisement must carry the under-18 statement and the Ministry of Finance warning, must not be aimed at minors and must not present gambling as a source of income; advertising a game not licensed in Czechia is banned, influencers and affiliates included.
| Channel | Status | Vertical & Platform Split (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Ads | Licensed operators only | Both sportsbook and casino ads are permitted for operators who complete Google's certification process. As of March 2026, advertisers must demonstrate “good policy health” and a proven compliance history, and must own their second-level domain.78 |
| App Store Publishing | Allowed | Real-money gambling apps can be published by licensed developers on both Google Play and the Apple App Store. Google's whitelist for Czechia includes online casino and sports betting, while Apple requires native apps that comply with all local laws and age-gating.910 |
| Google/Apple App Store Ads | Restricted | Advertising for published gambling apps is permitted but requires the advertiser to be licensed in Czechia. Campaigns on both platforms must target users aged 18+ and adhere to all platform policies regarding the promotion of irresponsible gambling.711 |
| Meta (FB/IG) | Licensed operators only | Operators must obtain prior written permission from Meta to advertise real-money gambling for either sportsbook or casino. This process requires submitting a valid Czech gambling license and ensuring all ads target users aged 18 and over.12 |
| TV & Radio | Restricted | Licensed operators may advertise on TV and radio and must hold a Czech licence; there is no watershed or live-sport rule. Every advertisement carries the under-18 statement and the Ministry of Finance warning.513 |
| Sponsorships | Allowed | Sponsorship, including shirt and stadium branding, is treated as advertising: allowed for licensed operators under the same content rules, with no gambling-specific ban.5 |
| Digital OOH | Restricted | Outdoor and digital out-of-home advertising is allowed for licensed operators under the same content rules. Municipalities may limit advertising in public places, and no gambling promotion may be placed on or next to a building with a gaming venue.35 |
Channel rules for Czechia reflect each platform's published policy and the sources numbered in each row (listed under Methodology & sources). Verify with the local regulator and your ad-platform account manager before launching.
How Czechia enforces against unlicensed operators
The Ministry of Finance and the Customs Administration enforce the licence regime, chiefly by listing unlicensed websites, apps and payment accounts for blocking.
- The Ministry's public list of unlicensed internet games held 3,665 entries on 19 October 2026 (3,646 websites, 13 apps, 6 payment accounts); 700 were entered in 2025.
- From the 15th day after an entry, internet providers must block the website, payment providers must refuse payments to the account and app platforms must stop distributing the app, on fines of up to CZK 1,000,000.
- Making an unlicensed game available is fined up to CZK 50,000,000 for an operator and up to CZK 1,000,000 for another person; running an unauthorised game is also a crime (Criminal Code s. 252).
- Players commit no offence by playing with an unlicensed operator.
Licensed operators: 29
As of 26 Oct 2026, approximately 29 operators hold an active licence in Czechia. Size your entry against this base before committing capital. Check them yourself on the official Ministerstvo financí register, which lists each licensee and its authorised domains.
Notable licensed operators
FORTUNA GAME a.s.
Allwyn Česko a.s.
CHANCE a.s.
SYNOT TIP, a.s.
Traps operators hit in Czechia
Specific operational risks that have caught new entrants in this market. Each item is country-specific. Generic gambling-ops issues (KYC, RG tools) are not included unless they have a local twist.
The bail rises with your gambling tax
The bail is CZK 20,000,000 at entry, but it moves to CZK 70,000,000, CZK 150,000,000 or CZK 300,000,000 once the decisive gambling tax passes CZK 5 million, CZK 50 million or CZK 200 million; the higher group applies from the next quarter and the top-up is due within 60 days.
Expert assessments expire
A game may run only with a valid expert assessment and certificate of operability from an authorised test body; an assessment lasts at most 5 years and the new one must be filed at least 30 days before the old one expires.
Sources3
Reporting three times a day
Customs read the operator's server by secured remote access: three outputs a day, each covering 8 hours and due within 8 hours, with the endpoint registered at least 30 days before the first output (Decree No. 10/2019 Sb.).
A Czech-language site is required
An internet game must run through a website or app available at least in Czech. No .cz domain is required, though every domain on the register of 1 October 2026 ends in .cz.
Land-based: municipalities decide
Land-based only: a municipality may restrict or ban bingo, technical games, live games and small tournaments by decree, and it issues the gaming-premises permit. Online play needs no municipal permit.
Sources3
Timeline: rules in force
- October 1, 2025
Benefit recipients in the exclusion register
Act No. 152/2025 Sb.: recipients of the state social assistance benefit with a subsistence component, and adult household members, entered in the RVO ex officio.
Source: 19
- January 1, 2024
Two-permit model and new tax rates
Act No. 349/2023 Sb.: introductory and basic permits, bail groups, operator self-limits and the self-exclusion tool, 30% / 35% gambling tax and the CZK 50,000 winnings exemption.
Source: 2
- 1 Jan 2024
Act 349/2023 amends the Gambling Act: two-stage permit, self-exclusion duties
Act 349/2023 Sb. (part 53) took effect on 1 January 2024: the two-stage permit (introductory plus basic permit), operator duties on self-limitation and the self-exclusion tool (applied by 1 July 2024 at the latest), apps as an internet-game channel and the transmitted live game.
Source: 20
- January 1, 2017
Gambling Act No. 186/2016 Sb. in force
The current regime for online and land-based gambling, with the Gambling Tax Act No. 187/2016 Sb.
Source: 3
- 1 Jan 2017
Act No. 186/2016 Coll., on Gambling Enacted
Act 186/2016 Sb., on gambling, took effect on 1 January 2017; it is the base law for online and land-based gambling.
Source: 21
Operator myths vs reality in Czechia
Common assumptions about gambling licensing that turn out to be wrong in practice.
- MythAn EU licence, like one from Malta, is enough to serve Czech players.Reality
No foreign licence is recognised. A game available in the Czech Republic is treated as operated there and needs a Czech basic permit. An EU or EEA company can, however, apply in its own name without a Czech subsidiary.
Sources3
- MythThe servers must be in the Czech Republic.
- MythA national permit lets me open a venue anywhere.Reality
Land-based only: a gaming hall or casino also needs the municipality's premises permit, and a municipality may restrict or ban some games by decree. Online play needs no municipal permit.
Sources3
Markets that work like Czechia
Compared on what our records hold for each country: whether online casino, betting, poker and lottery are licensed, state-run or banned, the licensing model, what the operator tax is levied on and its band, how most advertising channels are treated, and how foreign licences are treated. A point we hold for only one of the two countries counts for nothing.
- SlovakiaCheckedNetherlandsIn reviewRomaniaIn reviewGreeceReviewedPhilippinesIn review
Online casino, betting, poker and lottery licensed; licensed market; GGR tax 30–40%; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly blocked.
Methodology & sources
The research behind our Czechia coverage
Counted across every Czechia page, not this page alone.
compiled 26 Oct 2026
10
official websites
regulators, legislatures, courts
77
pages cited
specific documents, not homepages
246
sourced data points
each traced to the instrument
Across every Czechia page on this site: players, operators and the licence guide. The research report behind them cites official sources: the law, the regulator, the gazette, the courts and each platform’s own published advertising policy. Page sections not yet rewritten from the report may cite other sources.
The same research as a 76-page Czechia report: every one of the 201 checklist questions, each answer cited to the instrument behind it.
Request the Czechia reportOur Deep AI Scan took Czechia through all 201 questions of our regulatory checklist, from 77 official documents, read on 26 Oct 2026. Our research team then traced every figure on this page to the document and sentence that states it. The full research report is due to go to our compliance team. Where a fact rests on a press report or a law-firm summary rather than an official document, the page says so.
Documents cited on this page
- 1Chamber of Deputies print 64 (text)
- 2Act No. 349/2023 Sb., part 53 (amends the Gambling Act)
- 3Gambling Act No. 186/2016 Sb. (e-Sbírka)
- 4Decree No. 466/2023 Sb. on the conditions of operating gambling (e-Sbírka)
- 5Advertising Regulation Act No. 40/1995 Sb. (e-Sbírka)
- 6Ministry of Finance: warning to influencers (21 September 2026)
- 7Google Ads - Gambling and games policy
- 8Google Ads - Policy Update (March 2026)
- 9Google Play - Country allowances for gambling apps
- 10Apple - App Store Review Guidelines
- 11Apple - Advertising Policies
- 12Meta - Advertising Policies (Gambling)
- 13Broadcasting Act No. 231/2001 Sb. (e-Sbírka)
- 14Ministry of Finance: blocking of unlicensed internet games
- 15Ministry of Finance: list of unlicensed internet games (CSV, 19 October 2026)
- 16Ministry of Finance: methodological guide on the bail (kauce)
- 17Decree No. 10/2019 Sb. on gambling reporting (e-Sbírka)
- 18Ministry of Finance: list of legal operators (Whitelist), valid 1 October 2026
- 19Act No. 152/2025 Sb., part 39 (amends the Gambling Act)
- 20Source
- 21Source
- 22Ministry of Finance: methodological guide to the basic-permit application
The 10 documents this page relies on most
- Zákon č. 186/2016 Sb., o hazardních hrách (Gambling Act), wording of 1 Oct 2025Law
- Zákon č. 40/1995 Sb., o regulaci reklamy, wording of 10 Oct 2025Regulator
- Vyhláška č. 466/2023 Sb., o podmínkách provozování hazardních her, wording of 1 Jan 2026 (436/2025 Sb.)Regulator
- Zákon č. 187/2016 Sb., o dani z hazardních her (Gambling Tax Act), wording of 1 Jan 2024Law
- Zákon č. 253/2008 Sb. (AML Act), wording of 11 Jan 2026Law
- MF methodological guide: application for a basic permit (version 2.1, effective 9 Jan 2026)Regulator
- Vyhláška č. 433/2021 Sb., o výstupních dokumentech v oblasti hazardních her, wording of 1 Jan 2024Regulator
- Vyhláška č. 208/2017 Sb. (technical parameters of gaming equipment), wording of 1 Jan 2024Regulator
- Act No. 586/1992 Sb., on Income Taxes (Zákon o daních z příjmů), wording from 1 August 2026Law
- MF list of gambling operators under the Gambling Act (Whitelist), valid 1 Oct 2026 (xlsx)Law
Also cited on this page
- Chamber of Deputies print 64 (history)
- Chamber of Deputies print 321 (text)
- Chamber of Deputies print 321 (history)
- Ministry of Finance: Whitelist of legal operators
77 documents in all. Request the full research report for every source, answer by answer.
Looking for the player guide?
For consumer-facing information about gambling in Czechia (tax on winnings, where to play legally, self-exclusion options), see the Czechia player guide.
Disclaimer. This page reflects the law as we understood it on 26 Oct 2026. Rules change: always check the current position with Ministry of Finance (Department 73). We are not a legal adviser.