Ireland Proposes 1% Turnover Levy for Gambling Social Impact Fund

Ireland’s Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has set out plans to require commercial gambling licensees to pay 1% of turnover into a Social Impact Fund each year. The notification was received by the European Commission on November 12, 2026, with the proceeds intended to address gambling-related harm.

The draft text would base each payment on turnover in the financial year preceding the contribution year. Holders of gambling licences for charitable or philanthropic purposes would be exempt. The regulations remain a draft and are intended to commence on April 1, 2027.

The proposal supplies the rate and payment details for a fund whose establishment was approved by the Oireachtas under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 in October 2024. The department said the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland has indicated it can make the fund operational in 2027.

How Licensee Contributions Would Work

Turnover does not have the same meaning for every licensee. Under the Act’s definitions, business-to-business licensees use gross profit on sales or supplies of relevant gambling products or related services. Remote betting intermediaries instead use the total charges paid for providing the facility that enables betting, while other licensees use income from relevant gambling activities less winnings paid out. The base therefore differs by business model rather than treating betting stakes as a universal measure.

The Authority would determine each licensee’s contribution and issue a written notice stating the amount, payment method and deadline. Payment would be due by July 1 each year, by direct bank transfer or an equivalent electronic transfer to the account specified in that notice.

A licence transfer would not necessarily clear an outstanding charge. If a licence changed hands during the contribution year, the transferee would be liable only for any balance still unpaid at the transfer. The Authority could recover unpaid contributions through the courts as a simple contract debt.

How the Fund Can Be Used

The Act requires the Authority to establish and maintain the Social Impact Fund and to manage and control it. Payments can support research, training and community interventions aimed at reducing compulsive or excessive gambling; public education and awareness measures; treatment for people engaged in compulsive or excessive gambling and services for others affected by it; international research and training cooperation benefiting people in Ireland; and compatible projects or programmes.

Funding can be awarded through public invitations. The Authority must publish those invitations on its website, including its assessment criteria and, for accepted proposals, how money will be paid. It may attach conditions to awards, require recipients to keep accounts of expenditure and request written reports on how the money is used and whether conditions are met. Failure to comply with the accounting duty or an attached condition is an offence.

The minister may also authorize payments from the fund to cover some or all of the Authority’s expenses in administering it.

The department judged the proposed rate to be a proportionate balance between providing meaningful funding and avoiding an undue burden on commercial viability, citing broad industry support during development of the legislation and the potential to reduce pressure on health, social and other State-funded services.

The standstill period ends on February 15, 2027, and interested parties can submit positions through TRIS. For licensees, the eventual bill would not be a fixed euro amount: the Authority’s application of the relevant turnover definition and its written contribution notice would determine the amount each business must pay.