One evening, a run of spins finally pays off. Your balance reads 4,000 euro, you request a withdrawal and the money reaches your account a few days later. Through which method? That depends on the operator: even among casinos that accept Bancontact, the withdrawal method is not always the one you deposited with.
Then a question takes some of the shine off: do you have to pay tax on it? In principle, no. But that “no” is shakier than it looks, because no law actually says it. It rests on a note from the tax administration.
I will explain where this rule comes from, what it covers and where it stops. It applies to every operator in the ranking of online casinos in Belgium, and I rely only on public documents, listed and linked at the end of the article.
Are casino winnings taxable in Belgium? In principle, no
The official answer comes from the Gaming Commission, the Belgian regulator. On its page about taxes, it explains that money won by gambling or betting is in principle exempt: you owe nothing on the amount you win.
The size of the win changes nothing. I found no threshold, not at 1,000 euro and not at 100,000 euro. An occasional player who wins big is in the same position as someone who wins 50 euro. The rule also covers sports betting.
With legal online casinos in Belgium, which hold a licence from the Commission, the situation is clearest. For other sites the answer is less certain than people claim, and I come back to it further down.
An exemption no law actually writes down
If you look in the law for the sentence that exempts your winnings, you will not find it. The exemption is real, but it does not come from Parliament.
The Income Tax Code, taken literally
The Income Tax Code has a catch-all category called miscellaneous income. It covers money you make outside your job, even by chance or just once. That is Article 90, 1°.
Miscellaneous income is taxed at 33 per cent, plus the local council surcharge. Taken literally, the text could therefore catch a casino win: you stake money, you take a risk, you win.
The tax note that protects players
What protects you is the administrative commentary: a kind of user guide to the Code, written by the tax administration for its own staff. Under point 90/8, it lists what does not count as miscellaneous income.
The list includes winnings from authorised raffles and lotteries, the National Lottery among them, from prediction contests, from bets on horse races and from casino games. It ends with “etc.”, which leaves room for other games.
A text written before online gambling
This text has aged. It still names lottery tickets from another era, such as Presto and Subito, and says nothing about online gambling, even though it has been authorised in Belgium since 2011.
Above all, it is not a law. It states how the administration reads the Code, but a judge does not have to follow it. As long as it stands, it protects you against the administration. Nothing guarantees it will never change.
2012: when the taxman wanted to tax online winnings at 33 per cent
That risk is not theoretical. In May 2012, the daily De Standaard revealed that the tax administration regarded online players’ winnings as miscellaneous income, and therefore taxable at 33 per cent. The same winnings in a land-based casino remained exempt.
The Gaming Commission challenged the difference. The same day, the law firm Sirius Legal called it unfair and argued that taxing these winnings would take a law, not just an edit to the commentary.
According to that firm, the plan was shelved after the criticism, and I found no official text that revived it. The figure stuck, though: that is where the “33 per cent” still going around comes from, usually without a source.
What if the win comes from a site not authorised in Belgium?
Many sites claim such winnings are taxed at 33 per cent. I looked for the text that says so, without finding it. In its answer, the Gaming Commission makes no distinction at all between an authorised site and an illegal one.
The only nuance lies in one word of the tax commentary: it speaks of authorised raffles and lotteries, without clearly saying the same for casino games. None of the texts I read settles the question, and I will not settle it for them.
In any case, the real risk is not a tax one. Knowingly playing on a site licensed in Malta or Curaçao exposes you to a fine and leaves you with no remedy if the site refuses to pay. To see what a Belgian licence rests on, I have explained the difference between an A+ and a B+ licence.
Tax on poker winnings: what the Ghent court decided
The official exception is well known: the professional player, and the Gaming Commission gives poker as its example. Their winnings then become professional income, to be declared to the FPS Finance. The administration’s commentary refers to winnings repeated until they become a profit-making activity.
On 9 January 2023, the Court of First Instance in Ghent ruled on an online poker player whom the administration wanted to tax as a professional. The court said no: at poker you win other players’ stakes, you sell no service, and a large sum does not prove a profession.
Yet it found the winnings to be taxable miscellaneous income, given the time spent playing and the risk taken on each stake. The assessment was still cancelled, as no professional activity had been proved. The ruling concerns poker, not games played against the casino, but it is a reminder that the exemption is no guarantee.
Gaming and betting tax: the operator pays
Another common mix-up: the gaming and betting tax is not taken out of your winnings. The operator pays it, on the difference between what players stake and what it pays back to them. That is how Wallonia calculates the tax on online gambling.
The tax is a regional matter, not one for the Gaming Commission, which says so itself. In Wallonia and Brussels, it goes to the region where the gaming server is located or operated. I quote no rate: each region sets its own, and the figures in circulation contradict one another.
What really differs from one operator to the next is the payout time, and Belgian casinos with fast withdrawals do not all announce the same delays. One last detail: since 2019, an operator subject to Brussels taxation must prove it has no tax debt to the region to obtain its licence.
Gambling winnings and the taxman: your questions
Do I have to mention casino winnings on my tax return?
For an occasional player, the Gaming Commission points out that nothing is owed on the amount won. If you play very often, or the sum is out of the ordinary, put the question to the FPS Finance rather than deciding alone.
Does the same rule apply to National Lottery winnings?
Yes. The administration’s commentary names the National Lottery and several of its games among the winnings that are not taxable. It is actually the clearest example in the whole list.
Can the taxman change the rule without a new law?
In theory, yes: the exemption rests on an administrative commentary, which can be changed without a vote in Parliament. In 2012, however, lawyers argued that taxing online winnings would require a law. I found no decision that settles the point.
When does someone become a professional player?
No text gives a figure. The administration looks at whether gambling, through repetition, has become a profit-making activity, and each case is examined separately. If you play almost every day with the aim of earning an income, ask the FPS Finance for advice.
Can I deduct my casino losses?
For an occasional player the question does not arise: their winnings are not taxed, so there is nothing to deduct losses from. In 2012, according to Sirius Legal, the administration took the view that only professional players could deduct their costs and losses, which the firm disputed.
Are sports betting winnings treated like casino winnings?
In principle, yes. The administration’s commentary actually mentions prediction contests and bets on horse races. Betting operators also pay the regional gaming and betting tax.
Sources and limits
- Gaming Commission, “Do I have to pay taxes on money I have won?”
- Walloon decree amending the Code of taxes assimilated to income taxes, Article 44bis on online gambling (published in French and German only)
- Brussels-Capital Region, gambling duties
- FPS Finance, gaming and betting tax: tax obligations (in French)
The Ghent court ruling of 9 January 2023 is unpublished. The shelving of the 2012 plan is reported by a law firm, not by an official source. I give no regional rate, as I do not have a verified text currently in force for each region.
This article describes the general framework as it emerges from the public sources listed above, consulted on 22 September 2026. It is neither tax nor legal advice. For a specific situation, a large win or regular gambling, check with the FPS Finance or a tax adviser.
If gambling is taking up too much room, my page on responsible gambling brings together the steps to take and the support services.
Three years in iGaming, focused on licensed casinos in Belgium. I write every CasinAudit page myself and check each figure against an official source.