Malta gaming licence cost 2026: Full Fee Breakdown

Two numbers get quoted everywhere. Five grand to apply, twenty-five grand a year. People read that and think they have the budget figured out. They do not. Not even close. The real Malta gaming licence cost 2026 hides behind those two figures, and it shows up in pieces over your first year. A monthly contribution that tracks revenue. Tax on some players, none on others. Capital you have to park and cannot touch. Then the consultants, auditors, and lawyers, who never appear on the MGA fee sheet because the money does not go to the MGA. Below is all of it.

What the Malta gaming licence cost 2026 really includes

Quick map before the detail. One application fee. One annual fee. A monthly contribution. A 5% player tax. Share capital. And the professional bills nobody warns you about. That is the spread.

 Malta gaming licence cost 2026 application fee

You pay €5,000 to apply. However, the fee is non-refundable. You pay it on submission, and the MGA keeps it whether they approve or reject the application.

Just treat it as spent. A surprising number of applicants assume they get it back if the answer is no. They do not.

Annual fees, depending on what you run

Here is the chunk people actually picture when they think about the Malta gaming licence cost 2026. Paid in advance, before go-live, then every year after. B2C: €25,000. Type 4 skill games only: €10,000. B2B supply also opens at €25,000. B2B back-office, €10,000.

After year one, the B2B side moves with revenue. If revenue stays under €5m, you stay at €25,000. However, between €5m and €10m, the fee rises to €30,000. Once revenue passes €10m, it reaches €35,000. In addition, back-office fees run €3,000 below a million and €5,000 once you clear it. The Authority wants all of it paid up front, in advance, full stop.

Malta gaming licence cost 2026: compliance contribution

This is the line that wrecks tidy spreadsheets. In practice, the compliance contribution is monthly and scaled to gaming revenue. Moreover, each B2C type has a floor you owe no matter what and a ceiling that caps the damage.

Between the two, the rate eases off as you earn. Type 1 opens at 1.25% on the first €3m and slides to 0.40% at the top. Type 2 starts harder, 4.00% on that first €3m, then drops band by band.

New operators catch a break worth knowing about. The full minimum does not kick in until a whole licence period has passed, and start-ups that qualify skip contributions entirely for twelve months. Check whether you fit. It changes your year-one cash position more than almost anything else here.

Tax, and the bit everyone mixes up

Gaming tax is 5%, but only on revenue from players sitting in Malta. Players anywhere else? Nothing. So an operator built for international markets often pays almost nothing on this line, which catches out people who assume Malta taxes the lot.

Corporate tax is a different animal. Headline rate 35%. Most operators end up far under that once Malta’s refund system applies, but the effective figure rides entirely on how your shareholding is set up. Talk to a Maltese tax adviser before you commit a single projection to paper. The structure decides the number. Get it wrong and it swings your whole Malta gaming licence cost 2026 more than any fee on this page.

Capital you hold, money you do not spend

Before anything gets issued, you show you are holding the minimum capital. None of it goes to the regulator. It just sits in the company, as a cushion.

Type 1 and 2, a hundred thousand each. Type 3 and 4, forty thousand. Run more than one type and you do not add them up, you just meet the bigger one. But it is locked from day one, so it counts toward the true Malta gaming licence cost 2026 even though you technically still own it.

The fees nobody puts on the schedule

Everything so far goes to the regulator. This part does not, and it is usually bigger than people expect.

Someone has to set up and run your Maltese company, so that is a corporate service provider. Approved auditors handle the system and compliance audits the MGA insists on. Accredited labs certify the platform and the games. You need key function holders covering compliance, AML, and player protection — the Malta Gaming Key Functions for B2C and B2B guide breaks down what each of those actually involves. And lawyers, to draft your AML and responsible-gaming policies.

Stack it up and year one tends to land between €70,000 and €120,000 for one B2C licence, once fees, capital, and people are all in. Where you fall depends on how much you keep in-house. The Gaming Licence Financial Projections guide takes you through modelling it properly. Do that before you commit.

Worth the money?

Malta is expensive and nobody serious claims otherwise. What the price buys is an EU licence, banking that European providers will actually accept, and game studios willing to deal with you because the regulator means something. That is the deal you are paying for.

Tight runway or a thin budget, and a cheaper start sometimes makes more sense before you take on the full Malta gaming licence cost 2026. The Curacao vs Anjouan gaming licence cost guide covers two of them. For the bigger picture, the iGaming Licence Jurisdictions 2026 overview maps the field. And before you bank on any figure here, check it against the Malta Gaming Authority and the published Gaming Licence Fees Regulations. These rates do shift.

FAQ

So what does it all come to?

For one B2C licence, generally €70,000 to €120,000 in year one. That pulls together the €5,000 application fee, the €25,000 annual fee, the monthly compliance contribution, 5% tax on Malta-based players, €40,000 to €100,000 in share capital, and professional services. Your own mix sets the figure, which is why no two operators quote the same Malta gaming licence cost 2026.

Can I get the application fee back?

No. €5,000, paid when you submit, kept either way.

How does the compliance contribution work?

The compliance contribution is paid monthly and is sized to your gaming revenue. However, each licence type has a floor and a ceiling, while the rate falls as revenue climbs the bands.

How much gaming tax will I owe?

The gaming tax is 5% on revenue from players in Malta. However, players outside Malta do not count.

How long is the licence good for?

The licence lasts ten years. However, you must keep up with compliance, reporting, and audits the whole way through.

Any relief for new operators?

Yes. The full minimum contribution holds off until a licence period passes, and qualifying start-ups get twelve months before contributions start at all.