Malta occupies the top tier of European gambling licensing. A licence from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is treated by banks, payment processors, game suppliers and stock exchanges as evidence of serious regulation, and its price is correspondingly serious. The most common mistake in connection with a Maltese licence is to read it as a permit to be acquired rather than what it actually is: a full tax and compliance structure whose every number is officially published and must be budgeted in advance. This page describes the Maltese regime using only facts drawn from the MGA's own pages and guidance documents: the licence families, the complete fee schedule, the application process, and the condition that a Georgian client should examine first — who is allowed to apply at all.
One further framing note: a Maltese licence creates no access to the Georgian market and does not remove the Georgian permit, tax and reporting layer that applies to the person behind the structure. The final section of this page deals with that Georgian layer separately, under the articles that govern it. Reading the licence through both lenses is worth far more than any promise of a "fast European licence".
The legal basis and the two licence families
The regime rests on the Gaming Act, Chapter 583, supported by a package of subsidiary legislation running from S.L. 583.03 to S.L. 583.12: licence fees (Gaming Licence Fees, S.L. 583.03), the authorisations regulations (S.L. 583.05), player protection (S.L. 583.08), gaming tax (S.L. 583.10) and the rest. The regulator — the Malta Gaming Authority — maintains public registers of licensees, enforcement actions and Recognition Notices, which is the first objective tool for verifying any licence you are shown.
Licensing divides into two families. A B2C Gaming Service Licence is needed when a Maltese or EU/EEA entity wishes to offer a gaming service from Malta, to a Maltese person or through a Maltese legal entity; it is applied for by channel — Remote Gaming Services (online), land-based casinos, commercial bingo halls, controlled gaming premises, and the national lottery licence. The B2B family — the critical gaming supply licence — is, in the MGA's own words, a Business to Business licence to provide or carry out a critical gaming supply from Malta, with two application routes: Game Providers and Back Office, or Back Office only — the latter covering control systems, meaning software that generates, captures and processes essential regulatory records. To this are added Recognition Notices, the mechanism by which other EEA licences are recognised for Malta-facing supply, with a public register of their own.
Within either licence, one authorisation covers four game types: Type 1 — casino, live casino, house poker, lotteries and virtual sports; Type 2 — fixed-odds betting, including live betting; Type 3 — pool betting, betting exchanges and player-to-player formats such as poker and bingo, plus commission-based models; Type 4 — controlled skill games. A group licence is available where the parent holds more than 90% of the group entities.
And now the condition that is decisive for Georgian structures. In the MGA's own wording, any company incorporated in the EU/EEA is eligible to apply. A Georgian parent cannot apply to the MGA directly: the route runs through a European subsidiary, which then becomes the licensee. That structural step itself requires a deliberate choice of member state, and it is the subject of our separate page on an EU member-state company for gambling operations.
Licence fees and minimum share capital
The MGA's guidance note on licence fees and taxation publishes a complete schedule, and every figure below comes from that official source. The application fee is €5,000 — one-time and non-refundable. The fixed annual fee for a B2C licence is €25,000; where the licence covers only Type 4 games, the annual fee is €10,000. The B2B annual fee follows annual revenue: €25,000 for revenue up to €5 million, €30,000 for the €5–10 million band, and €35,000 above €10 million; for the B2B Back Office route, €3,000 up to €1 million of revenue and €5,000 above it.
Minimum share capital depends on the game types: €100,000 for Type 1 and Type 2; €40,000 for Type 3 and Type 4. Where a licence covers several types, the minima are cumulative, capped at €240,000. For start-ups the subsidiary legislation softens the entry: qualifying start-up undertakings have a 12-month moratorium on the compliance contribution under the Directive on Start-Up Undertakings, and for new operators the contribution minimum is deferred by one licence period under Directive 4 of 2018.
The compliance contribution and gaming tax
On top of the fixed fees sits a monthly compliance contribution, built on percentage bands per game type and payable by the 20th of the following month. The official ranges: Type 1 — minimum €15,000, maximum €375,000 per year, with bands stepping from 1.25% down to 0.40%; Type 2 — minimum €25,000, maximum €600,000, bands from 4.00% down to 0.40%; Type 3 — minimum €25,000, maximum €500,000 on the same 4.00%-to-0.40% scale; Type 4 — minimum €5,000, maximum €500,000, at 0.50% rising to 2.00% for the remainder. To this is added the gaming tax — 5% of gaming revenue generated from the gaming service, which the guidance ties to services offered to players physically present in Malta. The licence is issued for 10 years — a long term that is forfeited when the structure cannot carry changes: an equity, control or funding change above 75%, or a new business plan, requires a fresh application with a new fee.
One responsible caveat: the financial figures above come from the MGA guidance note published in February 2023. Before relying on them for a budget, confirm that no 2024–2026 revision has intervened — that check is done against the MGA and its official pages, and it is exactly what our team does before every Maltese project.
The application process: stages and windows
The entire process runs through the MGA's Licensee Portal: application, communication and document exchange in one system. Ultimate beneficial owners, directors and key persons each complete personal declaration forms. The process then moves through stages: a completeness check (with a one-time 60-day window for curing an incomplete application); application review covering fit-and-proper standing, a viable strategy, statutory and operational capacity, and technical implementation; a fit-and-proper stage that includes probity checks with other regulators; a funding review establishing the source of wealth and of funds; review of the business plan and policies; and a technical set-up review with an independent system audit — staged within a 60-day window, using an auditor from the MGA's pre-approved list. After a clarifications stage comes the decision.
Two practical conclusions follow for a Georgian client. First, a Maltese application is not a paper exercise: it requires a real, functioning operating company in Malta, verified funding sources and documented policies. Second, the MGA publishes the stages and individual windows — the 60-day cure window, the 60-day audit staging period — but no guaranteed overall timeline; your plan should carry reserve time, and the current schedule should be confirmed with the MGA.
The Georgian cross-border layer
For all its European standing, a Maltese licence gives its holder nothing on the Georgian market. Under article 5, part 1 of the Georgian law on gambling, organising gambling and supplying it into Georgia requires a Georgian permit, and under article 11, part 2 that permit is issued only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia. A Maltese licence therefore never substitutes for a Georgian one, and it is justified only where the business targets foreign markets. When describing the structure, the first task is to isolate the Georgian person behind it — because the Georgian tax and reporting layer is built on that person.
The tax layer reads as follows. Article 80, part 7 of the Georgian Tax Code taxes an individual organiser of a slots hall or system-electronic gambling on the margin — stakes received minus winnings paid; article 81 sets the rates, including the 5% line on excess income under a supply permit; article 8 governs player winnings and loss offsetting; and article 171(b) leaves gambling services VAT-exempt under the carve-out in article 172(4). For the player on a foreign platform, the Tax Code frames the declaration duty — our player-taxation page carries the detail. The reporting layer: if a Georgian entity sits in the chain, articles 3, 11 and 12 of the anti-money-laundering law apply; article 29(b) of the gambling law requires winnings registration with reporting to the Financial Monitoring Service; and for system-electronic supply into Georgia, the selected-person regime of article 36-1 and integration with the state control system become relevant. On the civil side, articles 951 and 952 of the Civil Code mean that claims from a game arise only where the game is state-permitted — disputes on unlicensed platforms carry the no-claim risk, which our disputes page analyses separately.
Frequently asked questions
Four questions repeat themselves at Maltese-direction consultations.
Can a Georgian company apply to the MGA directly?
No. Under the MGA's official condition, the applicant must be a company incorporated in an EU or EEA member state. A Georgian group's route runs through a European subsidiary that becomes the licensee — and that step is part of the structuring, not a formality.
What does running a Maltese licence cost per year?
On the official numbers: €25,000 fixed annual fee for B2C (€10,000 where only Type 4 is covered), €25,000–35,000 for B2B depending on revenue; the monthly compliance contribution ranging by type from a €5,000 minimum (Type 4) to a €600,000 maximum (Type 2); gaming tax at 5% of revenue; and €40,000–240,000 of locked-in capital. A precise budget is built for the specific combination of types.
How long does the licence take?
The MGA publishes the process stages and individual windows — the one-time 60-day cure window and the 60-day system-audit staging period — but gives no guaranteed overall duration. For planning purposes, the current schedule and realistic timelines must be confirmed with the MGA.
Does a Maltese licence allow operating in Georgia?
No. The Georgian market requires its own permit — articles 5 and 11 of the Georgian gambling law say so unambiguously, and under them the permit is issued only to an entrepreneur registered in Georgia. The value of the Maltese licence lies elsewhere: in working with international counterparties and foreign markets.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Legal.ge takes a Maltese direction through one full cycle: we determine whether your business model fits the B2C or B2B frame and with which game types; we build the European subsidiary structure that satisfies the MGA's eligibility condition; we assemble the complete fee budget — from the application fee to the annual charges, on official numbers; we prepare the documentary base of the application and the framework for the personal declarations; and in parallel we construct the Georgian layer — planning the tax and reporting duties of the person behind the structure under articles 5 and 11 of the gambling law, articles 80, 81 and 171 of the Tax Code, and articles 3, 11 and 12 of the AML law. The result is a decision file in which every Maltese number rests on an official source and every Georgian duty is tied to an article. Start with a consultation: Malta is worth it when you build it with numbers and articles — not when you buy it as a brand.