Ireland Gaming Licence

Gaming License

An Ireland gaming licence (GRAI licence) is an EU-regulated authorisation to offer betting or gaming to Irish customers, issued by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. Remote Betting applications opened 9 February 2026; fees start at €20,000.

Ireland's first national gambling licensing regime is now live. GRAI began accepting Remote Betting applications on 9 February 2026. GRAI publishes no official processing time. For new market entrants, expect 6–12 months from submission to grant; first licence grants are expected from July 2026.

What is currently open:

• Remote Betting Licence (online sportsbook): accepting applications since 9 February 2026

• Remote Betting Intermediary Licence (betting exchange): open since 9 February 2026

• Remote Gaming Licence (online casino, slots, live casino): not yet open, expected H2 2026

• B2B Licence (platform software, hosting, odds supply): not yet open, no confirmed date

Why Operators Apply for an Ireland Gaming Licence

EU payment infrastructure access.

A GRAI licence is an EU-regulated credential. Payment service providers, acquiring banks, and processors that decline offshore-licensed operators accept GRAI-licensed ones. For operators turned down by mainstream EU payment infrastructure, this is the main reason to apply.

12.5% corporate tax.

Ireland taxes gambling companies at its standard corporate rate on trading income — one of the lowest in the EU. Ireland holds over 70 double-tax treaties. There is no elevated gambling-specific corporate rate. Groups with global revenue above €750 million fall under the OECD Pillar Two minimum effective rate of 15%.

Irish market coverage.

From 1 July 2026, remote operators serving Irish customers without a GRAI licence face active enforcement: fines up to €20 million or 10% of annual turnover (whichever is greater), High Court payment-blocking orders, and website access restriction orders.

The trade-off.

Ireland is not a low-cost jurisdiction. The 2% betting duty applies to every stake placed by Irish customers, not to gross profit. A sportsbook retaining an 8% gross margin pays approximately 25% of its gross profit in duty alone. Gaming gross win is subject to 23% VAT, which most EU member states do not apply.

Licence Types and Current Status

For operators whose primary product is online casino: you cannot complete Irish licensing today. The GRAI is still finalising the Remote Gaming framework. For B2B technology suppliers: the GRAI has stated B2B licensing will not be among the first licensing phases.

Application Fees

The Gambling (Licence Application Fees) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 37/2026) set all fees. "Turnover" in the fee schedule means Gross Win (stakes minus winnings paid out), not gross stakes. All application fees are non-refundable.

Remote Betting Licence

New entrant estimate: if you have no existing Irish gross win, the €20,000 bracket applies. Remote Betting Intermediary (betting exchange): fees start at €20,000, scale by Irish-customer gross win. Exchanges pay 25% duty on commission from Irish customers, not the 2% stake duty. Remote Gaming Licence: not yet open; fees start at €20,000 under the same regulations.

What an Ireland Licence Actually Costs to Run

The €20,000 government fee is the entry ticket. A new remote operator's realistic first year runs roughly €150,000 to €310,000 all in. That covers the application fee, legal and AML compliance setup, responsible gambling and NER integration, technical certification, a dedicated compliance function, and Irish entity formation, with a recurring annual compliance cost on top.

These figures cover licensing and regulatory compliance only. On top sit your taxes and the normal cost of running an iGaming business: platform and game content, payment processing, marketing, and general staffing.

Taxes

The betting duty deserves its own calculation. At 2% of stakes, a sportsbook running a 5% gross margin pays 40% of its gross profit in duty before any other cost. At 8% margin, duty is approximately 25% of gross profit. Ireland's duty hits every stake regardless of outcome, which makes losing runs proportionally more expensive.

Application Process

Realistic timeline for a new applicant: 6–12 months from submission to licence grant. GRAI has not published a processing SLA. New market entrants should plan for 6–12 months, because GRAI is clearing a large volume of legacy-operator transitions in its first year and these take priority.

Step 1: Pre-application preparation (4–8 weeks)

Gather all corporate documentation: Certificate of Incorporation, Articles of Association, Shareholders Register, and tax clearance information. Prepare written policies: AML/KYC, responsible gambling, risk management, whistleblower, and business continuity. Compile detailed profiles for every director, officer, and beneficial owner with 25% or more shareholding. Each one receives a separate GRAI email to complete an individual declaration.

Step 2: Publish Notice of Intention (28-day mandatory wait)

At least 28 days before you submit your application, publish a Notice of Intention in an Irish national newspaper using GRAI's official template. Send proof of publication to notices@portal.grai.ie. GRAI then publishes the notice on its own website. You can begin the online application during this 28-day period.

Step 3: Submit via GRAI Operator Portal

Submit at www.grai.ie. Pay the full non-refundable application fee by bank transfer to the GRAI account using the invoice number the portal generates. GRAI does not review your application until it receives payment. Signature requirement: GRAI requires original wet-ink signatures on all Declaration and Consent forms. It does not accept e-signatures.

Step 4: GRAI Review

GRAI conducts a risk-based assessment: legal and corporate standing, financial standing (capacity to fund winnings), technical compliance, and a fit-and-proper assessment of all officers and beneficial owners. GRAI may contact An Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners, and foreign regulators during due diligence. GRAI has signed information-sharing agreements with the UK Gambling Commission and the Belgian Gaming Commission.

Step 5: Decision and Licence Grant

GRAI notifies you in writing. Licences run for 3 years from date of issue (under review for extension to 5 years; no formal change as of June 2026). Transition deadlines: existing remote operators must have their GRAI application on file by 30 June 2026. A refusal can be appealed.

Required Documents

Compliance Obligations

These apply from the date of licence issue. Breach of most is a criminal offence under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024.

Credit card ban.

No credit cards accepted from players. No electronic payments funded from a credit card. No buy-now-pay-later arrangements. Criminal offence.

No targeted inducements.

Free bets, money-back offers, and bonuses may only be offered to the general public. VIP programmes, personalised cashback, and rakeback are prohibited. Criminal offence.

Advertising watershed.

No television or radio gambling advertising between 5:30 am and 9:00 pm. Social media advertising may reach only account holders who actively follow your channels. Criminal offence to breach.

Spending limits.

Every player must be able to set a time-limited monetary cap. Players cannot increase or remove a limit until the period expires. If a player exceeds the limit, you must refund the excess within 7 days.

National Gambling Exclusion Register (NER).

Your licence requires integration with the GRAI's NER. Once live, you must check the register in real time before every gambling session. If your NER connection goes down, you must suspend all gambling activity until it is restored.

Segregated Customer Account.

Hold all player funds in a ring-fenced account with a regulated financial services provider. You cannot access these funds except to pay verified winnings. Criminal offence to breach.

Child protection.

Players under 18 are prohibited from gambling. Remote licensees must verify age before opening any account. Criminal offence to permit a child to gamble.

AML obligations.

Gambling operators are designated persons under EU anti-money laundering law, supervised for AML by the GRAI. Document business risk assessment, perform customer due diligence before any account opens, apply enhanced due diligence to PEPs and high-risk countries, and file suspicious transaction reports. Under the incoming EU AML Regulation, customer due diligence applies to occasional transactions at or above €10,000.

GDPR and data protection.

Real-time NER checks, activity monitoring, and spending-limit enforcement mean you process player data continuously. That triggers the full EU GDPR regime: lawful basis for every processing purpose, mandatory Data Protection Officer for large-scale monitoring, breach notification within 72 hours.

7-day material event notification.

Notify GRAI within 7 days of any change to beneficial owners, registered address, or financial circumstances, and of any conviction or regulatory action against the licensee or its officers in any jurisdiction.

Banking and Payment Access

A GRAI licence materially improves banking access versus an offshore-only licence, but gambling stays a high-risk category for mainstream Irish retail banks. Most operators combine EU EMIs and fintech banks with specialist high-risk providers. The GRAI can also apply to the High Court to block payment processing for operators serving Ireland without a licence.

Costs: Ireland vs Other Regulated Options

Ireland carries the highest effective tax rate in this table. The 2% stake duty plus 23% VAT on gross win make it the most expensive jurisdiction listed from a tax perspective. Ireland's advantage over Malta or Gibraltar is the 12.5% corporate rate and the strength of Irish EU banking relationships.

After You Are Licensed

GRAI licensees face immediate compliance demands on day one: NER integration (once live), spending limit systems built into the platform, credit card blocking at the payment gateway level, and staff training across all customer-facing functions.

GRAI's annual compliance inspection programme is expected to begin from July 2026, with its Investigations and Enforcement Unit operational in Q3 2026. Treat audits as a first-year risk, not a distant one.

MGL maintains 96% second-year client retention across its licence portfolio. We stay engaged after licence issuance to handle banking setup, PSP onboarding, and compliance programme implementation. A licence issued without working payment infrastructure is not a launch.