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

The Law on Gaming licenses categories of gambling, not operators in the abstract. To operate online, a company must first hold a base gambling licence for at least one category, then obtain a separate licence and permit to organise remote gambling. LPT, the Gaming Control Authority under the Ministry of Finance, issues and revokes all gaming and lottery licences and permits, supervises operators, runs the self-exclusion register and maintains the illegal-operator blacklist.

Laws that apply

• Azartiniu losimu istatymas Nr. IX-325 (Law on Gaming, 2001, as amended)
• Loteriju ir azartiniu losimu mokescio istatymas (Law on Lottery and Gaming Tax)
• Pinigu plovimo ir teroristu finansavimo prevencijos istatymas (Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing)
• Pelno mokescio istatymas (Law on Corporate Income Tax) · Gyventoju pajamu mokescio istatymas (Law on Personal Income Tax)

Only a company registered and established in Lithuania, a private limited liability company (UAB) or a public limited company (AB), may hold a gambling licence. Each category carries a minimum authorised (registered) share capital that must be fully paid and maintained.

• The EUR 1,158,000 tier derives from the former LTL 4,000,000 minimum (EUR 1,158,481); the EUR 289,000 tier from LTL 1,000,000, and EUR 144,000 from LTL 500,000.
• The company, its shareholders and managers must be of good repute; the applicant discloses the supervisory board, CEO and CFO and passes a fit-and-proper review.
• Source of funds is a gating condition: the applicant must document the lawful origin of the capital and of the founders and shareholders resources.
• Local establishment is mandatory. A branch of a foreign company is not sufficient; the licence holder must be a Lithuania-registered UAB or AB.

Since 1 July 2022 a one-time licence fee applies per category, replacing the former nominal charges. It is paid on top of the share capital and is separate from the state stamp duty charged to process the application.

• The state application (stamp) fee for issuing the licence is roughly EUR 1,279 to EUR 1,404, trivial next to the licence fee and capital.
• The real capital cost of an online launch is the EUR 1,158,000 share capital plus the EUR 500,000 remote-gambling licence fee, and any base-category fee, not the stamp duty.

A gaming operator organising remote gambling must ensure by technical and organisational means that minors and self-excluded or otherwise barred persons cannot play, and that every participant is identified and registered before play. The equipment and LPT oversight are tightly specified.

• Remote gaming devices and the software processing player communications must be installed in Lithuania or another EU or EEA Member State.
• LPT must be able to connect to the remote gaming equipment for inspection; operators route play through systems the authority can supervise.
• A central control information system, LAKIS (the Slot Machine Control Information System, Losimu automatu kontroles informacine sistema), gives the regulator real-time play data; remote gambling operators must link their systems to the central monitoring platform, with a compliance deadline in May 2026.
• Only new, certified gaming devices and software are permitted; equipment must be tested and approved before use.
• Each player holds a registered account; identity and age (21+) verification is a precondition of registration, and the self-exclusion register is checked at registration and login.

Applications go to LPT. The file proves the corporate, capital, integrity and technical conditions; LPT decides within about 30 days of a complete file, and a realistic end-to-end timeline is 3 to 6 months.

• Prescribed application forms; certificate of incorporation and articles of the UAB or AB; proof of the paid authorised share capital.
• Details of the supervisory board, CEO and CFO, plus fit-and-proper and clean-repute evidence for owners and managers.
• Documentation of the origin of the company, founders and shareholders funds (source-of-funds file).
• For remote operation: the remote gambling regulations for LPT approval, the equipment certification, and evidence the servers and software sit in the EU or EEA and connect to LPT.
• The Gaming Control Authority obtains the approval of the relevant municipal council before issuing or renewing a licence for land-based venues.

Gaming tax is administered under the Law on Lottery and Gaming Tax by the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI). GGR-based verticals were raised to 22% from 1 January 2025 (up from 20%, which applied from 1 July 2022; the pre-2022 rates were 18% for betting, totalizator and bingo and 13% for remote gambling). Land-based machines and tables are taxed at a fixed amount per device.

• GGR-based returns (betting, totalizator, bingo, remote gambling) are filed monthly with VMI, with payment due by the 15th of the following month.
• Corporate income tax is 17% from 1 January 2026 (16% in 2025, up from 15%), charged on profit on top of gaming tax where the operator is taxed in Lithuania; the small-company reduced rate is 7%.
• Player winnings: personal income tax (GPM) is 15%. Winnings from gambling operated under a Lithuanian or EEA licence are exempt in the player hands because the operator bears gaming tax; lottery winnings and prizes are exempt only up to EUR 200 per payer (max six times a year), taxed at 15% above that.

From 1 November 2025 the minimum gambling age is 21 for all gambling, land-based and online (previously 18). Player protection centres on a national self-exclusion register that every licensed operator must honour.

• The Register of Persons Restricted from Participation in Gambling, a voluntary self-exclusion register run by LPT, has operated since 1 May 2017; by 30 September 2024 it held 62,178 lodged applications, of which 17,342 were valid.
• Operators must check the register at registration and login and must not let a listed person open or use an account or enter premises; the register is active across all licensed sites.
• Operators must identify and register every remote player and prevent minors and barred persons from playing (technical and organisational duty).
• Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have agreed in principle to a shared Baltic self-exclusion register so an exclusion in one state propagates to licensed operators in all three; a mandatory national gambling player card has been proposed toward 2029.

Lithuania first banned gambling incentives, then legislated a near-total advertising ban that phases in from 2025 to a full sponsorship ban in 2028.

• From 1 July 2021, promotional incentives are banned: special events, test games, discounts, gifts, bonuses and anything that encourages gambling.
• Amendments adopted in late 2024 introduce a near-total gambling advertising ban from 1 July 2025.
• A transitional carve-out for sport runs to 1 January 2028: through end-2027, up to three sports-betting ads of under 15 seconds each per hour are allowed on TV, radio and online between 06:00 and 18:00, and up to two per hour between 18:00 and midnight.
• Gambling company names may no longer appear in the names of sports clubs or leagues during the transition, though the name may appear next to a sponsored club or athlete.
• From 1 January 2028 all gambling sponsorship, of events, activities and individuals, is banned, completing the ban.

Gambling operators are obliged entities under the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing; the financial intelligence unit is the Financial Crime Investigation Service (Finansiniu nusikaltimu tyrimo tarnyba, FNTT).

• Identify and verify players; remote registration builds this in through identity, age (21+) and account verification.
• Apply customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence to higher-risk relationships, and report suspicious transactions to the FNTT.
• Maintain an internal AML framework: risk assessment, internal control procedures, record retention and staff training, proportionate to the operation.
• From January 2025, financial controls tightened: banks must monitor gambling transactions, report to LPT and block payments to blacklisted sites within 24 hours of a directive.

LPT enforces the market through a public blacklist of illegal online operators, backed by DNS/IP blocking and payment blocking.

• LPT maintains and updates a public list of illegal online gaming operators; between 2016 and 2024 it had 1,809 illegal gambling websites blocked (roughly 1,600 blacklisted).
• Internet access providers block Lithuanian access to blacklisted sites via DNS/IP blocking.
• Payment service providers must block transactions to blacklisted sites; under the 2025 controls a listed payment channel must be stopped within 24 hours of a directive.
• Administrative fines for illegal gambling and advertising breaches run from about EUR 1,800 to EUR 3,800 for a first violation and up to about EUR 6,000 for repeat offences, alongside licence revocation for operators.
• A blacklisted operator cannot simply be delisted: the only route off the list is to obtain the Lithuanian remote gambling licence and permit.

The route to a live Lithuanian online operation, in filing order. Tracks overlap: stand up the platform, certification and the LPT interface while assembling the corporate and integrity dossier.

1. 01

   Incorporate a Lithuanian UAB or AB and capitalise it

   Share capital EUR 1,158,000 (remote / Category A)

   Register a private limited (UAB) or public limited (AB) company in Lithuania and pay in the category minimum authorised share capital: EUR 1,158,000 for remote gambling or casino/Category A, EUR 289,000 for Category B, bingo, betting or remote betting, EUR 144,000 for online horse-racing totalizator. A foreign licence or a mere branch will not do.

2. 02

   Build the source-of-funds and fit-and-proper dossier

   Good repute · lawful origin of capital

   Document the lawful origin of the capital and of the founders and shareholders resources, and assemble good-repute evidence for the supervisory board, CEO, CFO and beneficial owners. Source of funds is a gating condition, not a formality.

3. 03

   Choose and apply for the base gambling licence

   Category licence · fee EUR 100k-500k

   Apply to LPT for a base licence in at least one category (table games + Category A, Category B, bingo, totalizator or betting). You cannot obtain a remote authorisation without an underlying base licence.

4. 04

   Pay the one-time licence fee

   Remote EUR 500k · combined EUR 1M

   Pay the applicable one-time fee: EUR 500,000 for remote gambling, EUR 300,000 for casino/table games/Category A and B machines, EUR 100,000 for bingo and betting, or EUR 1,000,000 for all activities combined, plus the ~EUR 1,300 state stamp duty.

5. 05

   Apply for the remote gambling licence and permit

   Remote licence + permit + regulations

   File for the licence and permit to organise remote gambling and submit your remote gambling regulations for LPT approval. The remote permit, once granted, lets you offer every type of gambling online irrespective of the base category held.

6. 06

   Certify equipment and locate it in the EU or EEA

   New certified devices · EU/EEA hosting

   Use only new, certified gaming devices and software, and install the remote gaming equipment and player-communication software in Lithuania or another EU or EEA state. LPT must be able to connect to the equipment for inspection.

7. 07

   Connect to the LPT central monitoring system

   LAKIS · deadline May 2026

   Link your platform to the central control information system (LAKIS, the Slot Machine Control Information System) so LPT gets real-time play data. Remote operators must complete this connection by the May 2026 deadline.

8. 08

   Build registration, age-21 checks and account controls

   Age 21 from 1 Nov 2025

   Verify identity and that each player is at least 21 before registration, register a personal account per player, and prevent minors and barred persons from playing by technical and organisational means.

9. 09

   Integrate the self-exclusion register

   Register of Restricted Persons · since 2017

   Wire in the LPT Register of Persons Restricted from Participation in Gambling so a self-excluded person cannot register or log in, and prepare for the planned shared Baltic register.

10. 10

    Stand up AML and comply with the ad regime

    FNTT · near-total ad ban from 1 Jul 2025

    Implement CDU/EDD, suspicious-transaction reporting to the FNTT, record retention and staff training. Comply with the near-total advertising ban (no incentives since 2021; only the limited transitional sports carve-out to 1 January 2028).

11. 11

    Go live and run ongoing tax and reporting compliance

    22% GGR monthly · VMI

    Launch under the licence and permit. File gaming tax monthly with VMI (22% of GGR for betting, totalizator, bingo and remote gambling, due by the 15th), pay 17% corporate income tax where applicable, and keep the LPT monitoring feed live.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 28 Jul 2026.