Is online gambling legal in Malta?

There is no national online self-exclusion register: you exclude yourself with each site, and every site must offer you deposit or wagering limits. If a site does not settle your complaint within ten days (twenty if it tells you it needs longer), you can take it to the site’s ADR body free of charge and complain to the MGA’s Player Support Unit. The Responsible Gaming Foundation’s Supportline 1777 is free and confidential.

1. 1Directive 2 of 2018: Player Protection Directive (V3, January 2023), MGA
2. 2Gaming Authorisations Regulations (S.L. 583.05), legislation.mt
3. 3Gaming Act (Cap. 583), consolidated text, legislation.mt

Gambling with crypto: Allowed only with the MGA’s prior approval (Policy on the use of Distributed Ledger Technology); crypto-assets that hide the sender, receiver or amount are prohibited.

You must be 18 to gamble online in Malta, for online casino, sports betting and lottery alike. Land-based: casinos under a Ministerial concession do not admit citizens of Malta under 25.

No Maltese law taxes gambling winnings: the Income Tax Act has no provision on them, and gaming tax is paid by the operator on its revenue, not by you. Nothing is withheld from your winnings. The position rests on the law saying nothing; if you gamble as a trade, the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) is the body to ask about your case.

The regulator's register lists 308 online licence holders in Malta (checked 5 Nov 2026, no change since 30 Oct 2026).

Always verify a casino holds a valid Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) licence before depositing. Check the official register before signing up.

The official register of licensed sitesMalta Gaming Authority (MGA)'s website

If a site isn't on the regulator's licensee register, ask the regulator before you play: an unlisted site is usually not licensed here (a register can lag behind a new licence). An unlicensed site is outside the regulator's supervision, so you cannot complain to the regulator about it.

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  Check the licence on the MGA register

  Look the company up on the MGA Licensee Register: a current licence shows the status Licensed, and the site’s MGA verification page lists the website addresses the licence covers. The MGA also lists unauthorised websites that falsely claim an MGA licence.

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  Check for a link to an ADR provider

  A licensed site must name its ADR body in its terms and conditions, which must be no more than one click from the homepage.

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  Look for the limit and alert tools

  A licensed site must offer you deposit and/or wagering limits and ask, before your first deposit, whether you want to set them; slot-type games must offer a play alert at intervals you choose; and you can exclude yourself for a set or indefinite period. Loss and session limits are optional.

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  Know the withdrawal rules

  A licensed site must pay out within five working days of your request where practicable. Once your deposits reach EUR 2,000 it must verify your identity, and you cannot withdraw until it has.

Official guidance, court decisions and changes to the list of blocked gambling sites in Malta, newest first, each linked to the official text.

Our daily watch reads the official publishers we follow; each item is listed once a person has checked it against the official text, and every sentence is taken from that text. Dates are the official dates where the text gives one, else the day it was published.

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   1. Complain to the operator

   Every MGA site must publish its complaints procedure in its terms. It must look into your complaint and tell you the result within ten days; it may take ten more days if it tells you so, with the reason, within the first ten.

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   2. Take the dispute to the operator’s ADR body

   If you are not satisfied, refer the dispute to the ADR body named in the operator’s terms. It is free for you. An arbitration or adjudication decision binds both you and the operator; for claims above EUR 5,000 the operator may offer non-binding mediation instead, if it tells you so.

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   3. Complain to the MGA

   You can also lodge a complaint with the MGA’s Player Support Unit, in English or Maltese, if you think any part of the service is unlawful, unsafe, unfair or not transparent. It examines the complaint separately from any ADR case and passes possible breaches to the MGA’s compliance directorate.

   Lodge a complaint with the MGA

• Myth

  If I have a dispute with an MGA casino, the MGA will get my money back for me.
  Reality

  The MGA’s Player Support Unit takes your complaint and checks the operator against the rules, but no law lets the MGA order an operator to pay you a disputed sum. For a payout dispute, complain to the operator first, then take it to the operator’s ADR body, which is free for you; an arbitration or adjudication decision binds the operator.

• Myth

  The gambling age in Malta is 25.
  Reality

  Online, the minimum age is 18 for everyone. The age of 25 applies only to citizens of Malta entering a land-based casino.

• Myth

  My winnings might be taxed if I win a large amount.
  Reality

  No Maltese law taxes gambling winnings, whatever the amount: the Income Tax Act says nothing about them, and gaming tax is paid by the operator. If you gamble as a trade, ask the Malta Tax and Customs Administration about your case.