Casino Tax Obligations in New Zealand
New Zealand’s gambling tax system is pretty simple: players keep their winnings, and operators are responsible for paying taxes. On this page, we’re going to look at what that actually means for you, a player – and what, if anything, you owe – and what operators are responsible for.
Do Kiwi players pay tax on winnings?
For recreational players, the answer is almost always no, and that’s because gambling winnings are treated as a windfall, not as income. In reality, this means that a good night at the tables or a lucky online session isn’t taxed – with pretty much the only downside being that you can’t claim gambling losses against other income either.
Now, there is one exception, and that’s if your gambling is run like a business: systematic, organised and done with a genuine intention to profit. If your gambling activity meets those criteria, it might fall inside the income tax rules, but it’s rare, and very specific, so if you feel that you might be near that line, you’re better off getting professional advice. Thankfully, for most players, the tax convo is almost always about operators, not players.
What Operators Pay
Operators are responsible for paying a few different charges rather than just one – which we’ll look at below:
- GST (15%): This is charged on the gaming margin, so it’s player spend minus prizes paid out – not on the total turnover. This applies to onshore operators and offshore remote suppliers once they pass the GST registration threshold: NZ$60,000 of services to NZ residents in 12 months.
- Company income tax (28%): Paid on net profit after allowable expenses, including duties and levies.
- Gaming machine duty (20%): This charge is levied on gaming-machine profits at Class 4 venues, which includes pubs and clubs.
- Casino duty (4%): This applies to “casino win” on table games at the six licensed land-based casinos in NZ.
- Problem gambling levy: The exact rate for this changes, and it’s channel-weighted.
Moving Forward
Since 1 July 2024, offshore operators serving New Zealanders have been required to pay a 12% duty on their gross gambling revenue, which is in addition to GST. Under the new Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which is now in force, the offshore gambling duty is being renamed the Online Gambling Duty and is being increased to 16% of GGR from 1 January 2027, with 4% of that 16% ring-fenced for community causes.
Still, this isn’t something that affects players, and in 99.9% of cases, Kiwis don’t need to worry about paying any taxes on their gambling winnings.
Gambling should only ever be viewed as a form of fun; entertainment, and never a way to make money, or for financial gain. If you find yourself chasing losses, unable to stop, or expecting to win, you may be exhibiting signs of problem gambling. If, at any point, you feel that you have a gambling problem, stop immediately, check out our Responsible Gambling page, and reach out to organisations and charities like New Zealand’s Problem Gambling Foundation. Help and support is available.
Our New Zealand-based reviewers and editorial team, trusted by 12,000 visitors, test 4 online casinos per week. The reviewers, including Edward Howarth, Mark Dash, Sophia Novakivska, thoroughly test each casino as mystery shoppers who actually deposit money into the casino and then report back on what their experience was like from the player's perspective. Our ratings are based on the testers' experiences as well as diligent research of the casino background, the legal terms and conditions, and the reputation among New Zealand players, in compliance with Gambling Act of 2003. Our DashScore provides a comprehensive evaluation of each casino we tested. Our reviews comply with the Gambling Act of 2003 ensuring legal reliability.
This website uses affiliate links which may earn a commission for registrations and/or player activity at no additional cost to the player. We ensure affiliate links do not influence our rankings or reviews, maintaining our commitment to providing truthful content to our readers. Our affiliate links support our unbiased reviews, ensuring we provide genuine insights to our readers.
While we may earn commissions from brands listed on this website, our reviewers' unedited opinions, based on first-hand experiences, are always their own and are not influenced by the financial aspect in any way. Our Kiwi Experts review the brands from the player's perspective and present their own opinions. This allows us to publish objective, unbiased and true reviews.
Online casinos mentioned on this website allow players aged 20 and over to gamble. For New Zealand players, legal gambling age is 20, as enforced by the Gambling Act of 2003 and its amendments. Fine can be up to NZ$500 for persons caught underage gambling. If you are visiting us from another country, you are expected to obey the local laws regarding legal gambling age.
All our content is reviewed by a certified expert at least quarterly. We update data on terms and conditions, regulation, bonuses, payment systems, reread our content, make corrections and update pages. So you can be sure you are receiving up-to-date data on our website.