Why is it so expensive to place a bet in Poland? A take on additional gambling taxes

Many Polish sports fans and casino players feel that placing bets in Poland just doesn’t offer good value compared with other European countries. Odds seem lower, potential returns smaller, and overall costs higher. A big part of the reason isn’t just operator margins, it’s the structure of gambling taxes in Poland.

Poland’s gambling tax is among the most expensive in Europe, and it affects both players and betting companies.

For players, winnings from gambling are subject to tax. Currently, a flat rate of 10% is automatically deducted on winnings over a certain threshold by licensed operators. However, this rate is about to rise. From January 2026, the tax on gambling prizes, including sports bets, casino games, lottery and other forms of gambling, will increase to 15%. In practice, that means a prize of 10,000 zł will now yield about 8,500 zł after tax instead of 9,000 zł under the old system.

On top of that, winnings earned abroad (e.g., on foreign or EU-based platforms) will also be subject to this 15 % tax when claimed by Polish residents.

Moreover, Polish law doesn’t just tax players, it also imposes heavy levies on operators, which are routinely passed to customers in the form of lower odds or extra costs. For example:

• Sports betting operators pay 12% of turnover (total stakes) as tax (not profit), which is unusually high.
• Online casinos and gaming machines operated under the state monopoly are taxed at 50% of gross gaming revenue, one of the highest ratios in Europe.

Unlike many other EU markets, where gambling tax is calculated on net revenue (after payouts to players), Poland’s turnover-based tax on sports bets means that a large chunk of every wager is diverted to the state before anything else. This leaves less room for operators to offer competitive odds or generous bonuses.

As a consequence, players effectively bear much of the tax burden even before results are determined. In some cases, bookmakers have to factor the tax directly into the cost of a bet, so the “real” part of your stake that goes toward winning calculations can be much smaller than the face value of the wager.

Meanwhile, in many European markets, players pay no direct tax on gambling winnings at all. For example, in the UK and Sweden, players are not taxed on wins, and operators are taxed on their gross gaming revenue, which keeps the tax burden away from individual bettors.

In Poland, by contrast, both sides of the gambling transaction, operators and players, are taxed. This dual approach makes betting more expensive and less attractive relative to countries where only operators are taxed.

Some players and industry observers argue this approach may even encourage offshore and unlicensed gambling, where winnings are not automatically taxed and odds can be more attractive, a challenge authorities have struggled with despite payment blocking and domain bans. The situation might change in the future, but for now, it is not ideal for either betting companies or the players themselves.  

Why a turnover tax hits players twice

One key reason Polish odds often feel worse is the 12% betting tax being charged on turnover, meaning the total stakes, not profit. Because it applies before payouts are even considered, operators have far less room to price markets competitively, and that usually shows up as a wider margin baked into the odds. Industry analysis has also argued that this structure can translate into an extremely high effective tax burden when compared to a GGR-based model.

The proposed 15% player-winnings increase is not a sure thing

Your draft mentions the withholding tax on player winnings rising from 10% to 15% from January 2026. That increase was indeed proposed in 2025, including an expansion to cover certain winnings earned in other EU/EEA countries. However, in late December 2025, Poland’s president vetoed the broader tax package that included the 10% to 15% change. So it is safer to describe this as a planned or proposed hike that has faced a major political roadblock, rather than a guaranteed January 2026 change.

Why “it feels expensive” even before you win or lose

When the state takes a fixed slice of betting turnover, the cost is effectively built into every wager from the start. That is why some bettors feel like their stake does not “work as hard” as it would in markets where operators are taxed mainly on net revenue. The result is usually a mix of lower odds, fewer aggressive promotions, and stricter bonus terms because the operator is protecting margin in a tax-heavy environment. This is also why Polish industry voices keep calling for a shift toward a GGR-based model for sports betting.

What bettors can do within the legal market

If you are betting in Poland, the most practical move is to treat odds-shopping as a basic habit, since small price differences matter more when margins are higher. Compare the same market across licensed bookmakers, and pay attention to rules that can quietly reduce value, such as cashout conditions, minimum odds requirements, and bonus wagering restrictions. Separately, it’s worth tracking tax-policy changes because even a single legislative update can change the real “net” value of a win overnight.