According to the Personal Income Tax Law, winnings exceeding €3,000 may be subject to income tax. Income tax is automatically calculated and withheld from the portion of winnings exceeding €3,000 when the total amount of withdrawals within the same withdrawal processing session, together with any pending withdrawals, exceeds €3,000.
Do I need to pay income tax on my winnings?
According to Latvian tax regulations, personal income tax (PIT) applies to the portion of gambling and lottery winnings that exceeds €3,000.
OlyBet automatically withholds tax from the part of winnings that exceeds €3,000 during a withdrawal processing session. However, you remain responsible for declaring taxable winnings in your annual tax return and paying any additional tax required under Latvian law if the full amount of tax has not been withheld by OlyBet or another winnings payer.
You can find more information in the State Revenue Service (VID) guidance: VID Methodological Material
What is a withdrawal processing session?
For record-keeping purposes in the OlyBet system, withdrawal processing sessions are defined as fixed one-hour intervals around the clock. *Each session corresponds to a specific clock hour (for example, from 00:00 to 00:59), rather than a period starting when a player logs into their account.*
Logging back into an account does not, in itself, create a new withdrawal processing session.
How is the €3,000 threshold calculated?
When a withdrawal request is made, OlyBet considers:
- all withdrawal requests that are still pending processing;
- withdrawals that have already been processed during the same one-hour withdrawal processing session.
If the total amount exceeds €3,000, income tax is withheld only from the portion above €3,000.
Cancelled or declined withdrawals are not included in the calculation.
Is tax charged on the entire withdrawal amount?
No.
Income tax is applied only to the portion exceeding €3,000.
Example
You have €2,980 in pending withdrawals and request another withdrawal of €1,000.
The total amount becomes €3,980.
Only €980 exceeds the €3,000 threshold, so tax is calculated only on that amount.
If the applicable tax rate is 25.5%, the tax deducted would be €249.90.
What happens if I make several withdrawal requests within the same hour?
All withdrawals requested within the same withdrawal processing session are automatically combined.
Example
You request a withdrawal of €3,000 at 22:04.
The withdrawal is processed at 22:05.
You submit another withdrawal request for €1,000 at 22:07.
Since both withdrawals fall within the same one-hour withdrawal processing session, the total amount is €4,000.
Income tax is therefore calculated on the amount exceeding €3,000.
Playing games, placing bets, or making other account activity between withdrawal requests does not interrupt the withdrawal processing session.
Does waiting for one hour always prevent the tax from being applied?
No.
Pending withdrawals are always included in the calculation until they have been processed.
Example
You request a withdrawal of €3,000, but its processing is delayed for technical reasons.
Several hours later, you request another withdrawal of €3,000.
Because the first withdrawal has not yet been processed, both withdrawals will be combined when they are paid out.
For tax purposes, they will be treated as a single withdrawal amount of €6,000, and the applicable income tax will be calculated accordingly.
What happens if one of my withdrawals is cancelled or declined?
Cancelled and declined withdrawals do not count towards the €3,000 threshold.
If a withdrawal is cancelled or declined before processing, the tax calculation is automatically updated based on the remaining withdrawals.
Example
You have the following pending withdrawals:
- €1,000
- €1,000
- €500
You then request another withdrawal of €1,000.
The total amount becomes €3,500, so tax is calculated on €500.
If one of the earlier €1,000 withdrawals is later declined, the total falls below €3,000 and the tax calculation is adjusted accordingly.
Why am I seeing a tax warning message?
The warning appears when the total amount of your pending withdrawals, together with other withdrawals considered within the same withdrawal processing session, reaches or exceeds €3,000.
The warning informs you that income tax may be deducted automatically in accordance with Latvian tax regulations.
How much income tax will be deducted?
The applicable tax rate is determined according to Latvian tax regulations.
Currently:
- 25.5% is applied to taxable winnings up to €105,300;
- 33% is applied to the portion of taxable winnings exceeding €105,300.
Example
If a withdrawal amount of €4,000 consists entirely of taxable winnings and the €3,000 non-taxable threshold applies:
- taxable amount: €1,000;
- tax withheld (25.5%): €255;
- amount paid to the customer: €3,745.
For larger winnings, a different tax rate may apply in accordance with the applicable legislation.
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