Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) has published its gambling tax figures for Q3 2026 and the first nine months of the year. The data covers taxes collected from lotteries, sports betting, virtual slot games, online poker and horse-racing bets.

• Tax revenue: Gambling-specific tax receipts rose 11.2% to EUR 622.1 million in Q3 2026, compared with EUR 559.5 million a year earlier. Gambling tax revenue reached EUR 1.90 billion in Q1–Q3 2026, up 4.3% from EUR 1.82 billion in the same period of 2025.

• Regional breakdown: North Rhine-Westphalia recorded the highest gambling tax revenue in Q3 2026 at EUR 149.7 million, followed by Bavaria (EUR 90.1 million) and Baden-Württemberg (EUR 78.2 million). Together, these three states accounted for 51.1% of Germany’s quarterly gambling tax receipts. The lowest gambling tax revenues in Q3 2026 was recorded in Bremen (EUR 4.3 million).

• Lottery taxes: Lotteries generated EUR 443.1 million in Q3 2026, accounting for 71.2% of total gambling tax revenue. Germany generally applies a 20% tax on lottery participation fees, excluding the tax itself.
• Sports betting: Sports betting taxes contributed EUR 102.7 million, representing 16.5% of the quarterly total in Q3 2026. Both online and retail betting are subject to a 5.3% tax on stakes, excluding the tax itself.
• Virtual slots and online poker: Virtual slots generated EUR 66.3 million in taxes, while online poker contributed EUR 7.8 million. Combined tax revenue reached EUR 74.2 million, accounting for 11.9% of total gambling tax receipts in Q3 2026. Both are subject to a 5.3% tax on tax-exclusive stakes, with specific rules for calculating taxable poker stakes.
• Horse-racing betting: Totalisator betting (pooled horse-racing bets) generated EUR 2.1 million in taxes, while other horse-racing betting contributed EUR 0.1 million. Both are subject to a 5.3% tax on tax-exclusive stakes.

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