How to get a gambling licence in Czechia: fees and steps

Since 1 January 2024 the Ministry issues the introductory permit (úvodní povolení) to the company and a basic permit (základní povolení) for each kind of game (Gambling Act § 85(1)). An online operator needs both before it starts.

• Kinds that may run online: lotteries, fixed-odds betting (including live betting), totalisator games, bingo, technical games and live games (§ 3(2)(a)-(f), § 73(1)). Tombolas and small tournaments cannot be run online.
• One basic permit covers a game kind in every channel: a technical game run in venues and online needs one application.
• A transmitted live game (live casino) runs only from a studio inside a casino whose premises permit the casino operator holds; another operator may run its game there (§ 68c, § 81).
• There is no cap or tender: the Ministry grants a permit when the conditions are met and otherwise refuses it (§ 90, § 100(2)).

Laws that apply

• Zákon č. 186/2016 Sb., o hazardních hrách (Gambling Act)
• Zákon č. 187/2016 Sb., o dani z hazardních her (Gambling Tax Act)
• Zákon č. 634/2004 Sb., o správních poplatcích (Administrative Fees Act), tariff item 21
• Vyhláška č. 466/2023 Sb. (operating conditions) · Vyhláška č. 10/2019 Sb. (reporting) · Vyhláška č. 208/2017 Sb. (technical requirements)
• Zákon č. 253/2008 Sb. (AML Act) · Zákon č. 40/1995 Sb. (Advertising Act)

The operator must be a legal person seated in the Czech Republic, another EU member state or an EEA state (§ 6(1)(b)1); a natural person cannot hold the permits.

• Foreign evidence comes in the original with a certified Czech translation (Slovak is accepted untranslated), with an apostille or legalisation unless a treaty exempts it; the game plan must be in Czech.
• Persons from another EU state or the United Kingdom file the Czech criminal-record extract plus the extract with the annex on convictions from that state (§ 91(3)).
• No foreign licence is recognised: a game available in the Czech Republic is treated as operated there and needs a Czech basic permit (§ 2(2), § 7(2)(b)).

The bail is a condition of the introductory permit and is kept for the life of the permit (§ 93(2)). It is one amount per operator, not per game kind, set by the operator's gambling tax (§ 95).

• Cash to the Ministry's special account, a bank guarantee the Ministry accepts, or both (§ 93(1)). A guarantee needs at least 18 months left to run, must be issued by a Czech, EU or EEA bank (or a non-EEA bank through an EU or EEA branch), under Czech law, valid for at least 3 years and payable within 15 days of a call (§ 93(2), (4)).
• A higher group applies from the first day of the next quarter, with the top-up due within 60 days (§ 93(3), § 95(4)-(5)).
• On exit the cash becomes refundable from the 90th day and is returned within 60 days of the request (§ 96(1)); it is first used for unpaid gambling tax and fines (§ 96(6)).

The basic-permit file must already hold the expert assessment and certificate of operability from a test body the Ministry has authorised (§ 101(2)(b), § 110).

• The assessment covers the equipment as a whole, including the server and the random number generator, and the website or app (Decree 208/2017 § 2). It lasts at most 5 years; the new one is filed at least 30 days before expiry (§ 112a(2), § 87(2)).
• The file also carries a document on the server location: the server must be in an EU or EEA state, not necessarily in Czechia (§ 74(2), § 101(2)(c)); cloud hosting is accepted on conditions.
• Filing: through a data box, by e-mail to the Ministry's registry with a recognised electronic signature, or on paper. One application per game kind.
• Fees (tariff item 21): basic permit CZK 5,000 per application, change of a basic permit CZK 3,000, paid to the Ministry's account at the Czech National Bank. No annual licence fee.
• The Act sets no decision deadline; the Administrative Procedure Code's 30 days (plus up to 30 in complex cases) applies, and the Ministry gives no typical duration.

Gambling tax is charged per game kind and calendar quarter on deposits received less wins paid out and deposits returned (Gambling Tax Act § 3(1), § 6).

• The same rate applies online and in venues. The return is filed electronically within 25 days of the quarter's end, and the tax is due the same day.
• Corporate income tax is 21%, separate from gambling tax.
• Players: winnings are tax-free up to CZK 50,000 (per win for lotteries and tombolas, per year and game kind for the rest); lottery wins above it are taxed at 15% by withholding.

Customs read the operator's server by secured remote access: three outputs a day, each covering 8 hours and due within 8 hours (Decree 10/2019 § 7).

• The reporting endpoint is registered at least 30 days before the first output; formal errors are corrected within 2 working days.
• The website or app must be available at least in Czech (§ 74(1)); no .cz domain is required.
• An internet technical game takes stakes of up to CZK 500 and pays wins of up to CZK 500,000 (§ 52(3)); cash deposits and payouts are capped at CZK 10,000 in 24 hours (§ 17e(6)).
• Deposits come only from a payment account or instrument in the player's name with an EU or EEA payment provider; non-cash stakes are prohibited (§ 17e, § 7(4)).
• The site shows the session length throughout, the limits offer for at least 5 seconds after login, and the balance and net loss at all times (§ 75(1)).

Every operator checks the Ministry's exclusion register (RVO) at registration, at each login and at each venue entry (§ 17c(3)).

• The operator verifies identity and age before it opens the account (§ 17b), by AML identification or by taking over one made by another obliged person.
• At registration the player sets or declines, one by one, daily and monthly stake and net-loss limits and, for technical and internet games, logins per month, daily time logged in and a break after logout (§ 14(1), § 15). Each limit can be changed at most once a calendar day; a tightening applies at once, a loosening from the seventh calendar day at the earliest.
• The 48-hour panic button bars the player at once at that operator, and the Ministry's entry bars play at every operator for 48 hours (§ 16bb, § 16a(1)(g)).
• From 1 January 2027 debtors in enforcement entered in the RVO must be refused an account, stakes and deposits (§ 17(1), § 16a(1)(h)).

Online operators are obliged persons under the AML Act; gambling advertising falls under the Advertising Act, supervised by Customs and, for broadcasting, the broadcasting council.

• AML: identify the client when the relationship begins and for any transaction above EUR 1,000; due diligence at EUR 2,000 for an occasional transaction; report suspicious transactions to the Financial Analytical Office; keep records for 10 years.
• Every advertisement carries the under-18 statement and the warning "Ministerstvo financí varuje: Účastí na hazardní hře může vzniknout závislost!" and must not suggest gambling is a source of income (§ 5j). There is no watershed.
• Advertising a game not licensed in Czechia is banned: up to CZK 5,000,000 for a business that spreads it and up to CZK 2,000,000 for a natural person, influencers included.
• Bonuses must state their conditions before they are given; a bonus that blocks withdrawals or rewards contests of play on technical games is prohibited (Decree 466/2023 § 1).

The Ministry enters unlicensed websites, apps and payment accounts on a public list (§ 84d); it held 3,665 entries on 19 October 2026.

• From the 15th day after an entry, internet providers block the website, payment providers refuse payments to the account and app platforms stop distributing the app (§§ 84a-84c), 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 (§ 123(1)); running an unauthorised game is also a crime (Criminal Code § 252).
• The register of 1 October 2026 lists 29 operators with online permits, two of them seated abroad (Slovakia and Malta).

The route to a live online operation, in filing order. Certification and the reporting interface run alongside the company file.

1. 01

   Qualify the company

   § 6 · CZK 50,000,000 equity

   A legal person seated in the Czech Republic, the EU or the EEA, with equity and net assets of at least CZK 50,000,000 in audited accounts no older than 12 months.

2. 02

   Provide the bail

   §§ 93-95 · CZK 20,000,000

   Pay CZK 20,000,000 (bail group 1) to the Ministry's special account or provide an accepted bank guarantee.

3. 03

   Apply for the introductory permit

   § 89 · no fee

   File the integrity, no-debt, capacity and bail evidence for the operator and its key persons.

4. 04

   Get the platform and games assessed

   §§ 101, 110

   An authorised test body issues the expert assessment and certificate of operability for the equipment, games and website or app.

5. 05

   Apply for a basic permit per game kind

   § 100 · CZK 5,000 each

   One application per kind, with the game plan in Czech, the assessment and the server-location document; the permit runs for up to six years.

6. 06

   Connect reporting and the RVO

   Decree 10/2019 · § 17c

   Register the reporting endpoint with Customs at least 30 days before the first output and connect the exclusion-register check.

7. 07

   Go live and file quarterly

   Act 187/2016 · 30% / 35%

   File the gambling-tax return within 25 days of each quarter, keep the assessments valid and watch the bail group as the tax grows.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 26 Oct 2026.