An Important Moment for the Gaming Sector
Today, 6 April 2026, the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) published its initial Guidelines on Item 9 of Part Two of the Fifth Schedule to the Value Added Tax Act and with them, one of the most practically significant reforms to Malta’s gaming tax landscape moves decisively forward. These Guidelines apply with effect from 1 October 2026.
This is not a technical footnote. It is a landmark policy shift that redefines the perimeter of the VAT exemption applicable to gambling and betting activities, with immediate and material consequences for operators, investors, and advisers across the sector.
The Legal Anchor
Following the publication of Legal Notice 86 of 2026 which we wrote about last week, the MTCA have issued these Guidelines in conformity with Article 75(2) of the VAT Act (Chapter 406, Laws of Malta) to provide guidance on the application of the VAT exemption (without credit) contained in Item 9 of Part Two of the Fifth Schedule, which covers “betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling, as may be approved by the Minister.” The specific purpose of these Guidelines is to provide authoritative guidance as to which forms of betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling have in fact been approved by the Minister for the purpose of this exemption.
That question now has a definitive answer.
What Is Exempt: A Precise and Purposeful List
The MTCA have notified that the supplies of betting, lotteries and other forms of gambling which are approved by the Minister, and therefore attract the exemption without credit, are as follows:
- Low risk games as defined in the Fifth Schedule to the Gaming Authorisations Regulations (Subsidiary Legislation 583.05). This captures the category of games that, by their nature and design, carry a lower risk profile within the MGA’s regulatory taxonomy and which now have an equally clear VAT treatment to match.
- Junket events required to be approved in accordance with the Gaming Authorisations Regulations (SL 583.05), held on an occasional basis. Junket events are considered to be held on an occasional basis where they are not organised on a routine basis and which, due to their scale and nature, require specific planning and organisational arrangements. This carve-out is deliberately calibrated: it preserves an exemption for genuinely exceptional, event-specific operations without allowing routine gaming activity to shelter under the junket classification.
- The provision of any facilities for gambling on the outcome of a real-life event, which facilities can only be physically accessed at the place where the event physically takes place, including the services of bookmakers, betting exchanges and any equivalent facilities. The term “event” means a sporting event or competition. This is the on-site, in-venue betting carve-out: the bookmaker at the racetrack, the tote window at the stadium. It is geographically and physically anchored.
The Commercial Consequence: Input VAT Recovery Unlocked
What is not on this list is as important as what is. For instance, online casino, live casino, RNG, online sports betting, betting on events, online poker, as well as lotteries, through digital platforms, do not feature among the approved exempt forms.
By precisely defining the boundaries of the exemption, the Guidelines naturally determine where the exemption ends and where taxable treatment begins. Supplies falling outside these categories will no longer benefit from the exemption, and operators making those taxable supplies may, as a matter of VAT neutrality, be in a position to recover input VAT on the associated costs incurred in conducting their economic activity.
For remote gaming operators, this translates into the ability to reclaim VAT on costs related to, for instance, technology infrastructure, professional services, marketing expenditure, and operational costs, some of which may have been historically absorbed as irrecoverable. The impact, compounded across financial years, is material and commercially transformative.
What Operators Should Do Now
The window between now and 1 October 2026 is an opportunity, not merely a compliance deadline. Operators should map their supplies against these new Guidelines to determine which activities remain exempt and which fall into taxable treatment.
Overall, these Guidelines are a welcome development for Malta’s gaming sector, bringing greater clarity and a more predictable framework to an area that has long required it. Further clarifications are expected in due course, and it will be worth monitoring developments as they emerge.
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