Denmark — Online Gambling Regulation
A licensing regime run by the Danish Gambling Authority, a 28% duty on gross gaming revenue, and online casino as the largest sector
Last verified: 2026-10-05
Denmark licenses private operators for online casino and betting under one Gambling Act, supervised by the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden). Operators pay 28% of gross gaming revenue, players are not taxed on winnings from covered games, ROFUS self-exclusion is mandatory, and online casino became the largest gambling sector in 2025. This record tracks the legal framework, market data, player-protection rules and pending reform, with claim-level source citations and a verified/unverified split.
Denmark — Online Gambling Regulation (2026)
Overview
Denmark regulates gambling through one statute, the Gambling Act (lov om spil), currently consolidated as Act No. 1182 of 22 September 2025. Offering or arranging gambling requires a licence, and licences are granted by the gambling authority, Spillemyndigheden (the Danish Gambling Authority, DGA). Private operators can hold licences for online casino and for betting, each for up to five years; lotteries are a monopoly held by four licensed operators including Danske Spil; and land-based casinos are licensed for up to ten years. Unlicensed offering is a criminal offence, and the DGA has Danish internet providers block illegal sites by DNS after a court order.
Operators pay a gambling duty of 28% of gross gaming revenue on both online casino and betting in 2026 and 2027, and players are not taxed on winnings from games covered by the Gambling Duty Act. Player protection runs through ROFUS, the national self-exclusion register run by the DGA, which licensed operators must check at registration and at every login, alongside mandatory deposit limits and a cap on promotions. Online casino became Denmark’s largest gambling sector in 2025, at DKK 4,309 million of gross gaming revenue and 38% of the market. A reform package agreed in October 2025 (Spilpakke 1) was introduced as bill L 127 but lapsed with the March 2026 general election, so its advertising bans are not in force. This record is a research summary, not legal or tax advice.
The Gambling Act: licence requirement, authority, licence types and terms. [1]
Online casino GGR, 2025
Up 12.1% (DKK 465 million) on 2024 and 38% of a DKK 11.5 billion market; the largest sector for the first time. GDP-adjusted to the 2026 price level, per the DGA’s own 2025 market report.
Gambling duty on online casino and betting
Charged on the operator’s stakes less winnings; the ministry’s own table shows the same 28% for both years.
ROFUS register
Up about 12,000 on a year earlier; 65% of those registered on 1 January 2026 had excluded themselves permanently.
Gambling market 2025 by sector
| Sector | GGR 2025 (DKK million) | Share of market (%) | Change vs 2024 (%) | Verified against primary source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online casino | 4309 | 38 | 12.1 | ✓ | Largest sector for the first time; +DKK 465 million; +139% since 2012 |
| Monopoly lotteries | 3492 | 30 | -6.2 | ✓ | Lotto, class lotteries, scratch cards; the report text also gives DKK 3,493 million |
| Betting | 2130 | 19 | -11.5 | ✓ | Average RTP 89.7% |
| Gaming (slot) machines | 1181 | 10 | -6.8 | ✓ | Restaurants and gambling halls; 80% of GGR from halls |
| Land-based casinos | 378 | 3 | -5.6 | ✓ | Seven licensed casinos; -35% since 2012 |
| Land-based bingo | 30 | — | — | ✓ | Liberalised 1 Jan 2025; first year in the report; under 1% of the market |
| Total market | 11500 | 100 | -1 | ✓ | DKK 11.5 billion (-DKK 116 million); 73% of GGR came from online gambling |
The DGA’s own 2025 market report (sector revenue, licences, ROFUS, game split). [2]
Gambling duty rates, 2026 and 2027
| Gambling category | Act section | Rate 2026 | Rate 2027 | Verified against primary source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online casino | §11 | 28% | 28% | ✓ | Of GGR; includes online bingo and online poker |
| Betting | §6 | 28% | 28% | ✓ | Of GGR |
| Land-based casino | §10(1) | 45% + 30% above DKK 5,020,100 | 45% + 30% above DKK 5,166,400 | ✓ | Charged after deducting the value of gaming tokens in the tronc; threshold indexed |
| Gaming machines (halls and restaurants) | §12 | 41% | 41% | ✓ | Plus 30% surcharges above indexed progression thresholds |
| Land-based bingo | §5 | 33% | 38% | ✓ | The ministry table states 41% from 1 Jan 2028 |
| Lottery winnings | §2 | 15% of winnings above DKK 200 | 15% of winnings above DKK 200 | ✓ | Charged on the winnings amount per prize; applies to the lottery category, not to online casino |
The Ministry of Taxation’s own table of Gambling Duty Act rates. [3]
Regulatory timeline, 2012-2026
| Date | Event | Category | Verified against primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The partial liberalisation of the Danish gambling market takes effect under the Gambling Act (the DGA dates its comparisons from 2012; the exact in-force day is not stated in the sources opened) | legislation | ✓ |
| 2018 | Online bingo is liberalised | licensing | ✓ |
| 2019 | The DGA’s StopSpillet helpline opens | player protection | ✓ |
| 2021-01-01 | Gambling duty on online casino and betting rises from 20% to 28% of gross gaming revenue (the 20% rate and the current 28% rate are confirmed in primary sources; the 1 January 2021 effective date comes from trade press) | tax | ✗ |
| 2025-01-01 | Land-based bingo is liberalised: licences no longer require profits to go to charity | licensing | ✓ |
| 2025-06-11 | Order on online casino (BEK nr 682) signed; in force 1 July 2025, replacing the 2019 order | legislation | ✓ |
| 2025-09-22 | Gambling Act consolidated as LBK nr 1182 | legislation | ✓ |
| 2025-10-24 | Government and a broad majority agree “Spilpakke 1: Et mere ansvarligt spilmarked” | legislation | ✓ |
| 2026-01-13 | Bill implementing Spilpakke 1 notified to the European Commission under Directive 2015/1535 | legislation | ✓ |
| 2026-02-25 | Tax minister introduces bill L 127 in the Folketing (proposed in force 1 July 2026 / 1 January 2027) | legislation | ✓ |
| 2026-03-24 | General election; bill L 127 lapses because it was not adopted before the election (the lapse is recorded on retsinformation.dk; the 24 March election date comes from a secondary source) | legislation | ✗ |
| 2026-06-29 | DGA publishes “The Gambling Market in Numbers 2025”: online casino becomes the largest sector | market | ✓ |
| 2026-07-08 | Frederiksberg court orders ISPs to block 98 illegal gambling sites; 870 blocked since 2012 | enforcement | ✓ |
| 2026-08-03 | DGA reopens land-based casino licensing; applications due 3 November 2026 (opening and deadline reported by trade press quoting the DGA notice; the notice itself was not opened) | licensing | ✗ |
Verification status of this record
This record is at the fact-check stage. Claims marked Verified rest on the consolidated Gambling Act text, the Ministry of Taxation’s rate table, the Danish Gambling Authority’s own 2025 market report and news articles, bill L 127 as introduced, the EU-notified text of the order on online casino, and a Tax Council reply quoting the player-winnings rule, all fetched directly from the official source, plus the Folketing bill record and the enacted order read via search excerpt. Claims marked Unverified rest on trade-press reports of the 2026 land-based casino licensing round and on a negative search result about whether the lapsed reform bill has been re-introduced. A later amending act (LOV nr 1780 of 29 December 2025) and a later amending order (BEK nr 1827 of 29 December 2025) are listed in the official records but their content was not opened. See the individual claim statuses below.
Frequently asked questions
Is online gambling legal in Denmark?
Yes, but only with a Danish licence. Private operators can hold licences for online casino and for betting from the Danish Gambling Authority, each for up to five years. Offering gambling in Denmark without a licence is a criminal offence, and the DGA obtains court orders to have illegal sites blocked by DNS; in July 2026 a court ordered 98 sites blocked, bringing the total to 870 since 2012.
Who regulates gambling in Denmark?
The Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) grants licences and supervises compliance with the Gambling Act. The Act defines the gambling authority as the Minister for Taxation or whoever the minister authorises, and the DGA also runs the ROFUS self-exclusion register and the StopSpillet helpline.
Are gambling winnings taxed in Denmark?
Winnings from games covered by the Gambling Duty Act are not included in the player’s taxable income, and the same applies to winnings from equivalent games lawfully offered in another EU or EEA state. The operator pays the duty instead: 28% of gross gaming revenue for online casino and betting in 2026 and 2027. Winnings from games outside that scope can be taxable, so a player with winnings from an unlicensed or non-EU/EEA operator should take tax advice.
What is ROFUS?
ROFUS is the register of voluntarily self-excluded players, run by the Danish Gambling Authority. A player can exclude themselves for 24 hours, one, three or six months, or permanently, and licensed operators must check the register at registration and at every login and refuse access to anyone listed. At the end of 2025, 68,026 Danes were registered.
Are there limits on casino bonuses in Denmark?
Yes. A promotion may not be worth more than DKK 1,000, wagering requirements may not exceed ten times the deposit plus the awarded amount, winnings from promotions may not carry wagering requirements, all eligible games must count 100% towards wagering, and players must have at least 60 days to meet the terms.
Are the proposed advertising bans in force?
No. The “whistle-to-whistle” advertising ban and the other measures in Spilpakke 1 were put forward in bill L 127, which lapsed with the March 2026 general election. This research pass did not find a re-introduced bill, so the marketing rules in §36 of the Gambling Act as consolidated in September 2025 are the rules this record has checked.
Key facts
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Verified
Denmark regulates gambling through a single statute, the Gambling Act (lov om spil), consolidated as Act No. 1182 of 22 September 2025; its stated purposes are to keep gambling consumption moderate, to protect young and other vulnerable people from exploitation or addiction, to ensure gambling is offered fairly, responsibly and transparently, and to ensure public order and prevent gambling from supporting crime, and offering or arranging gambling requires a licence (§§1 and 3).
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Verified
The licensing authority under the Act is the gambling authority (spillemyndighed), defined as the Minister for Taxation or whoever the minister authorises; in practice the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) grants licences and supervises compliance with the Act, the rules issued under it and licence conditions (§§4 and 46).
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Verified
Private operators can be licensed for online casino (§18) and for betting (§11), each for up to five years at a time; an online-casino licence covers roulette, baccarat, punto banco, blackjack, poker, online bingo and slot machines, and a separate one-year revenue-restricted licence exists for operators whose taxable gaming revenue stays at or below DKK 1 million and turnover at or below DKK 10 million.
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Verified
During 2025 the Danish Gambling Authority had issued 1,970 licences across all gambling categories, including 27 betting licences (25 ordinary and 2 revenue-restricted), 41 online-casino licences (38 ordinary and 3 revenue-restricted), 7 land-based casino licences, 277 slot-machine licences and 4 monopoly-lottery licences.
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Verified
Gambling duty is 28% of gross gaming revenue for both online casino and betting in 2026 and 2027, against 45% (plus 30% above an indexed threshold) for land-based casinos, 41% for slot machines, and 33% rising to 38% in 2027 for land-based bingo.
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Verified
Under the Gambling Duty Act (§1(3)), winnings from games covered by the Act are not included in the player’s taxable income, and the same applies to winnings from equivalent games lawfully offered in another EU or EEA state; winnings from games outside that scope are generally taxable.
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Verified
The Danish Gambling Authority’s 2025 market report puts total gross gaming revenue at DKK 11.5 billion, down 1% (DKK 116 million) on 2024; online casino was the largest sector for the first time at DKK 4,309 million (38%), ahead of monopoly lotteries at DKK 3,492 million (30%), betting at DKK 2,130 million (19%), slot machines at DKK 1,181 million (10%) and land-based casinos at DKK 378 million (3%). Figures are adjusted to the 2026 price level using GDP.
Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden), Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden)
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Verified
In 2025, 73% of all Danish gambling revenue came from online gambling (70% in 2024), and 69% of online-casino revenue came from mobile devices, the highest share on record.
Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden), Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden)
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Verified
Online slot machines generated DKK 3,535 million, or 82%, of online-casino GGR in 2025, followed by blackjack (DKK 267 million), roulette (DKK 246 million), poker (DKK 105 million), bingo (DKK 100 million) and other games (DKK 56 million); the average return-to-player across online casinos was 95.36%.
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Verified
The ROFUS self-exclusion register held 68,026 Danes at the end of 2025, up about 12,000 on a year earlier; of those registered on 1 January 2026, 65% had excluded themselves permanently and the other exclusion options were 24 hours, one month, three months and six months.
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Verified
Licensed online-casino operators must consult ROFUS when a player registers (and refuse registration if the player is listed), consult it again at every login (and deny access to listed players), close the account of anyone finally excluded, and check the register no earlier than 24 hours before sending marketing to a player.
European Commission TRIS (Danish Ministry of Taxation notification), Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk)
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Verified
A player must set a deposit limit before play can begin, choosing a daily, weekly or monthly limit, and a request to raise the limit takes effect after at least 24 hours.
Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk), European Commission TRIS (Danish Ministry of Taxation notification)
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Verified
Online-casino promotions are capped by the order: a promotion may not be worth more than DKK 1,000, any deposit or stake required to receive it must equal 100% of its value, wagering requirements may not exceed ten times the deposit plus the awarded amount, winnings from promotions may carry no wagering requirement, all eligible games must count 100% towards wagering, and the player must have at least 60 days to meet the terms.
European Commission TRIS (Danish Ministry of Taxation notification)
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Verified
Offering, arranging or supplying gambling in Denmark without a licence is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or up to six months’ imprisonment (up to one year in aggravated cases), and payment facilitation for stakes and winnings to and from an illegal operator, and transmission of information on a communications network to an illegal gambling system, are prohibited (§§59 and 65).
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Verified
On 8 July 2026 the Frederiksberg court ordered Danish internet providers to block 98 illegal gambling websites at the Danish Gambling Authority’s request, bringing the total to 870 websites blocked since 2012; blocking is by DNS and follows a request to the operator to stop and an application to the court, and a site is treated as targeting Denmark where factors such as Danish language, Danish currency, the Danish flag, Danish-targeted marketing or payment methods, or Danish customer service are present.
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Verified
In October 2025 the government and a broad parliamentary majority agreed “Spilpakke 1” (24 October 2025), and the tax minister introduced bill L 127 on 25 February 2026 to implement it, proposing among other things a ban on gambling advertising from ten minutes before to ten minutes after live sport on TV and streaming, bans on gambling advertising in public transport and within 200 metres of schools, a ban on authority figures and on people under 25 in advertising, a ban on turnover-based payments to marketing partners, and a statutory duty of attention and action on responsible gambling.
Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk), Danish Ministry of Taxation (svmn.dk), Danish Ministry of Taxation (svmn.dk)
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Verified
Bill L 127 is not law: it is recorded on retsinformation.dk as lapsed (bortfaldet) and the tax ministry’s professional-body briefing lists it among the bills that lapsed with the March 2026 general election, so its advertising bans are not in force and the marketing rules in §36 of the Gambling Act as consolidated in September 2025 are the rules this record has checked.
Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk), FSR – Danish Auditors, Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk)
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Unverified
The Danish Gambling Authority reopened its land-based casino licensing process on 3 August 2026, with applications due by 3 November 2026 and licences running for up to ten years; trade press reports the notice but this pass did not open the DGA’s own announcement.
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Unverified
No re-introduced version of bill L 127, and no “Spilpakke 2” bill, was identified in this research pass (5 October 2026); a Social Democrat spokesperson was reported to have said the party would re-introduce the proposal if it formed a government again. This is a negative search result, not a confirmed absence.
Dansk Markedsføring, Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk)
Sources
- Danish Ministry of Taxation (retsinformation.dk)Primary source — LBK nr 1182 af 22/09/2025: Bekendtgørelse af lov om spil (Gambling Act, consolidated) — https://www.retsinformation.dk/api/pdf/244581
- Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden)Primary source — The Gambling Market in Numbers 2025 (annual market report, June 2026) — https://spillemyndigheden.dk/media/n30foncu/the-gambling-market-in-numbers-2025.pdf
- Danish Ministry of Taxation (svmn.dk)Primary source — Spilleafgiftsloven: Afgiftssatser og beløbsgrænser i lov om afgifter af spil (rates for 2026 and 2027) — https://svmn.dk/tal-og-metode/satser/satser-og-beloebsgraenser-i-lovgivningen/spilleafgiftsloven