Austria’s plan to open its online gambling market: What operators need to know

On 29 June 2026, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance published its draft bill for the reform of the Glücksspielgesetz (GSpG). Although it is still in the early stages and is subject to change, its direction is clear: Austria intends to transition from the current single-operator model for online gambling to a system in which several operators can hold licences under close supervision. This post examines the two areas that matter most from a corporate perspective: the new licensing architecture and amendments to the tax and levy framework.

A new licensing architecture

From one licence to many

Currently, the Austrian online offering is effectively managed through a single concession. The draft bill will change this in two stages: 

• It retires the concept of “electronic lotteries” and introduces “online gambling” as a distinct category. While the classic lottery business remains reserved for a single concession, online gambling will be opened to an unrestricted number of licences. In practice, licences will no longer be awarded in a one-off competitive tender, but through a rolling procedure in which each applicant is assessed on its own merits. Two timing elements matter. First, new online concessions may be granted only from 1 October 2027, while the existing concession is extended until then and, in any event, until 31 December 2028.
• Online concessions are limited in duration — five years on first grant and ten years on renewal.

The gateway for previously unlicensed operators

The most significant feature of the reform is how it deals with operators who have offered online gambling in Austria without a licence. Such operators are generally considered unreliable, which would normally exclude them from receiving a concession. However, the draft opens a conditional pathway back into the regulated market, subject to three conditions. Three conditions stand out:

• settlement of all outstanding gambling taxes that are not time barred;
• satisfaction of final judgments obtained by players against the operator in Austrian civil courts;
• a cessation of the illegal offering from the start of 2027 until a licence is granted (the “cooling-off period”).

Two features of these conditions are particularly significant. They apply both group-wide and to each brand: outstanding liabilities cannot be transferred to an affiliated entity, nor can a brand associated with prior unlicensed activity be relaunched through a different vehicle. Applicants must confirm their compliance through a sworn declaration. An inaccurate declaration may result in the licence being refused or withdrawn.

The consequences for non-compliance are equally deliberate: operators who continue to offer unlicensed products will be excluded from the licensing process for 18 months. This period will be extended to 24 months if cessation occurs after the end of 2029.

The enforcement backdrop

The draft bill supplements this approach with a considerably strengthened set of enforcement measures aimed at operators outside the regulated system. There are two elements that warrant attention. Firstly, there is an enforcement reservation: a licence is only granted where final Austrian civil judgments can be enforced in the applicant’s home jurisdiction. The second is a broad set of blocking and supervisory powers, including covert testing, the issuing of cessation orders, and the blocking of networks (against hosting, caching and search engine providers via the telecommunications regulator). These powers are supported by blacklists and whitelists.

Ongoing compliance obligations

Obtaining a licence is just the beginning. A concession brings with it operational player-protection obligations, which operators must incorporate into their systems from the outset. There are three central obligations: 

1. participation in a central, cross-operator exclusion register that records operator- and self-imposed player bans.
2. connection to a cross-operator deposit-limit register, with participation permitted only in line with the data held there.
3. operation of “safe servers” that record all gaming transactions in tamper-proof form and grant the authority direct access at any time, at the operator’s own cost. 

This is a significant technical and compliance task that should be planned for early on.

Amendments to the gambling tax framework

Beyond the proposed licensing reform, the draft bill seeks to significantly amend how bonuses are treated for Austrian gambling tax purposes. 

Under the heading of bonuses, the draft bill addresses incentives of any kind granted by operators to players, such as promotion tickets, free plays and free spins, credits, discounts and similar promotional benefits. The tax treatment of such bonus structures has historically given rise to significant disputes with the Austrian tax authorities and has been the subject of numerous decisions by the Austrian tax courts and the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court. Depending on their specific design and features, certain bonus arrangements have in the past been recognised as reducing the gambling tax base, while others have not. 

In a significant departure from this status quo, the draft bill proposes a general rule under which bonuses would no longer reduce the gambling tax base. Instead, they would be treated as taxable stakes (and thus increase the tax base) irrespective of their specific features. The same would apply to cashbacks, retroactive credits and stake reimbursements, which would likewise not reduce the tax base. 

At the same time, a limited tax privilege for licensed operators would be implemented. Under this regime, licensed market participants would be entitled to deduct certain bonuses up to specified thresholds (in case of online-gambling concessionaires up to 5% of the annual gross gaming revenue).

Impact on operators and outlook

For operators, the reform offers a clear strategic approach, rather than a series of individual changes. The licensed route is becoming more accessible: A realistic capital threshold, a rolling procedure and a defined pathway, even for operators with a background in the grey market. However, the price of that route is a thorough historical clean-up, including settled levies, satisfied player judgments, group- and brand-wide compliance, and a credible exit from unlicensed activity. Otherwise, you will face increasingly strict enforcement measures.

The sensible response for most operators is to start planning now. This involves assessing group-wide liabilities and brand exposure, reviewing the enforceability of Austrian civil judgments in the relevant home jurisdiction, and evaluating the impact of the new bonus-taxation rules on marketing budgets. Given the time it takes for the framework to develop, operators who use the current period to align their corporate, compliance and tax positions will be better prepared to respond as it evolves – even if aspects of the draft are likely to change before it is finalised.