Bulgaria's Cabinet Sends Gambling Advertising Ban and Fee Overhaul Bill to Parliament

Bulgaria's Council of Ministers approved a Gambling Act amendment bill on 11 November 2026 that would impose a near-total gambling advertising ban, end affiliate licensing and raise state fees, and sent it to the National Assembly the same day.

The bill, registered as No. 52-602-01-66, is not yet law. Parliament has to pass it, and its text sets entry into force for 1 January 2027, with some land-based tax changes starting on 1 January 2028. The government's own agenda item for the meeting is headed with the planned full ban on gambling advertising.

What the gambling advertising ban covers

New Art. 10(1) prohibits advertising of gambling games, gambling organizers, related trademarks and distinctive signs, regardless of form, method or place. Art. 10(2) carves out a short list of exceptions:

• information on operators' own websites and inside licensed venues;
• announcements of draws and winnings by the Bulgarian Sports Totalizator, the state lottery operator;
• venue facades, limited to 20% of the facade and, according to Gambling.com, 50 square meters, with a warning on addiction covering 10%;
• limited sponsorship of sports clubs, federations and similar bodies, and of culture, health and education.

Penalties sit in Art. 105. A person who publishes, broadcasts or distributes a banned advert faces a fine of €10,000 to €20,000 or a property sanction of €20,000 to €50,000. Repeat offences carry double.

The proposal follows years of restriction debates. Earlier Gamingo coverage tracks how Bulgaria moved to ban most gambling advertising in 2024, how a comprehensive ban on gambling ads was enforced, and how earlier gambling legislation failed to pass. On 22 July 2026, according to iGaming Business, parliament rejected opposition proposals for a blanket ad ban and a near-doubling of operator fees.

Affiliates lose their licensing route

The bill removes affiliate-operator licensing from Art. 17 and related articles. Under § 77, existing affiliate licences end on 1 January 2027. SBC News reports that this reverses an August cabinet decision to introduce an affiliate licensing route. Together with Art. 10, the change leaves affiliates with little room to promote Bulgarian-licensed products.

Online operators face a structural change too. Under Art. 6(6)-(7), foreign legal entities running online betting need a place of business in Bulgaria through which the activity is recorded. Setting up a Bulgarian company is not required. Existing licensees must comply by 30 June 2027 under § 70, or their licences can be revoked.

Fees and taxes: what changes for operators

The online betting fee in § 18 (Art. 30(4)) has two parts: a one-off fee of €400,000 and a variable fee based on gross gaming revenue, meaning stakes minus winnings. The government text puts the current online betting fee at 20%.

The Finance Ministry's impact assessment describes the one-off change as moving from 400,000 lev to €400,000. At the fixed rate of 1.95583 lev per euro, the old fee was about €204,500, so in euro terms the charge nearly doubles even though the nominal figure is unchanged.

Licences issued up to 31 December 2026 do not owe the new one-off fees under Art. 30(3)-(6) (§ 71). The variable fee and its minimum apply to all operators.

For land-based operators, the alternative tax for 2027 is set in § 75 at €600 per machine, €13,000 per table and €3,000 for other equipment, charged quarterly according to Gaming.net. From 2028 it is replaced by a two-part state fee, and the corporate-tax alternative tax is removed.

Payment providers and reporting duties

New Art. 31 targets payment chains. Banks, payment institutions and e-money firms would pay into the state budget any remuneration they earn on gambling payments above 1.5% of the transaction value.

New Art. 42a requires operators to set up an electronic link to systems of the National Revenue Agency (NRA), Bulgaria's tax authority. The compliance deadline is 30 June 2027. Operators that already track Bulgarian enforcement can compare this with earlier Gamingo reporting on the NRA's operator blacklist and anti-money laundering measures in the sector.

Timeline and next steps

According to Gambling.com, which cites the National Assembly record, the Budget and Finance Committee is the lead committee, with others also assigned. Committee dates and a first reading have not been published. The bill also contains an unrelated provision banning cash payments between construction firms and their contractors.

Status reviewed on 13 November 2026. Figures and dates come from the bill text, the government's 11 November 2026 agenda and the Finance Ministry's impact assessment. More regulation news and EMEA coverage.