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Finland Court Allows Professional Bettor to Deduct Betting Stakes

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Altay
Altay Celikkaya
Content Manager
Updated:
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that a professional bettor may deduct stakes paid on taxable betting activity outside the European Economic Area, overturning a tax treatment that had assessed bets individually.

The 1 October precedent, KHO:2026:79, concerned a bettor who placed 2,145 bets with non-EEA operators during 2020. He staked €365,606 and received €406,713 in returns. According to the Supreme Administrative Court’s KHO:2026:79 ruling, his activity was not business activity under Finland’s Business Income Tax Act. Still, it was sufficiently extensive and systematic to qualify as income-generating activity under the Income Tax Act.

Finnish flag and Supreme Administrative Court of Finland branding illustrating a landmark ruling allowing a professional bettor to deduct non EEA betting stakes.

Regulation & Compliance

Key Takeaways From Finland’s Professional Betting Tax Ruling

  • The Supreme Administrative Court allowed €365,606 in non-EEA betting stakes to be deducted from taxable earned income.

  • The court treated the bettor’s activity as income-generating rather than business activity.

  • The judgment considered the scale and systematic nature of the betting, along with the bettor’s research and market knowledge.

  • The case concerns taxable betting outside the EEA and does not create a general deduction for recreational bettors.

  • The ruling comes as Finland prepares to open its competitive online betting and casino market in July 2027.

Court Rejects Bet-by-Bet Tax Treatment

The dispute centred on how Finland should calculate taxable income from betting organised outside the EEA. The Finnish Tax Administration had taken the view that losing stakes could not be offset against winnings from separate successful bets. The tax authority added €112,369.48 to his 2020 earned income and imposed a €1,154.60 tax increase.

The Supreme Administrative Court rejected that assessment. It found that the bettor’s results depended partly on chance but also on information gathering, analysis and knowledge of betting markets. He focused on identifying pricing errors in odds offered on Finnish football matches and spent 50 to 100 hours a week betting during busier periods.

Because of the activity’s scale and planned nature, the court concluded that it was carried out with an established purpose of earning income. It therefore allowed the full €365,606 in stakes paid to non-EEA betting providers to be deducted from taxable earned income.

Decision Adds Another Layer to Finland’s Gambling Tax Framework

The judgment follows another Finnish Supreme Administrative Court decision on taxable gambling results. In August, Finland’s earlier slot-tax ruling rejected the tax authority’s individual-spin approach for certain online slot play outside the EEA, allowing results to be considered across a connected gaming session.

The latest sports betting case examines when repeated and structured gambling activity can qualify as income-generating activity. It does not classify professional betting as a business, but it establishes that stakes can be deductible when the activity meets the court’s conditions.

The court did not immediately decide whether the bettor’s additional expenses, including home-office, telephone, internet, travel, and match-ticket costs, were also deductible. The court returned those questions to Finland’s tax adjustment board.

Ruling Lands Ahead of Finland’s 2027 Market Opening

The decision comes during a major restructuring of Finland’s gambling market. Finland’s new gambling licensing process opened in March 2026, with licensed sports betting, online casino, slots and bingo scheduled to launch on 1 July 2027.

Finnish authorities have already received 50 gambling licence applications during the opening phase. The transition will replace Veikkaus’ broad online monopoly with a competitive licensing model while retaining exclusive rights for selected lottery and land-based products.

For operators and advisers preparing for Finland, the tax ruling is relevant beyond one individual dispute. Player taxation can influence cross-border betting economics, record-keeping requirements and the relative attractiveness of regulated domestic services compared with offshore alternatives.

The judgment should not be read as a blanket right for all Finnish bettors to deduct gambling losses. KHO:2026:79 shows that tax treatment may depend on the character, scale and purpose of the activity. As Finland moves towards a competitive market, that distinction adds another compliance and customer-tax consideration for betting businesses serving Finnish consumers.