The Riigikogu passed two Acts
The Riigikogu adopted an amendment to the Gambling Tax Act and an Act enabling the elimination of deficiencies in the railway system.
The Act on Amendments to the Gambling Tax Act (793 SE), initiated by Member of the Riigikogu Tanel Tein, was passed. It removes a technical error from the Act and ensures clarity that games of chance and skill organized as remote gambling are taxed uniformly. It omits the word “game of skill” from clause 7 of section 6 of the Act, as a result of which a 5.5-per cent gambling tax will apply to both types of games.
The Finance Committee had amended the initial effective date and had set the effective date of the amendment as 1 March 2026. The justification was that, according to the Gambling Tax Act, the general tax period for gambling tax is a calendar month. Consequently, the effective date of the Act has been set for the beginning of next month, which is in line with the current IT solutions and work arrangements of market participants and the tax authority.
The Act is related to an Act that was adopted by the Riigikogu on 3 December and that entered into force on 1 January which aimed to increase the funding of sports and culture through gambling tax revenues. The entry into force of the Act on 1 March will ensure rapid enforcement which will help to restore the situation for market participants and tax authorities where both types of gambling are subject to taxation at the same tax rate.
Tanel Kiik (Social Democratic Party), Aivar Kokk (Isamaa), Vadim Belobrovtsev (Centre Party) and Kadri Tali (Estonia 200) took the floor during the debate.
52 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Act, and one was against.
The Act on Amendments to the Railways Act and the State Fees Act (716 SE), initiated by the Government, was also passed. Its aim is to eliminate the shortcomings highlighted in the audit of the European Union Agency for Railways, improve railway safety, and bring the Act into line with EU law.
Based on the proposals presented in the audit, the Railway Act is amended to ensure continuous assessment of the railway system and compliance of the certification process with applicable requirements. The Act improves the mechanisms for assessing and controlling the safety of rail traffic, specifies safety monitoring and assessment procedures, and addresses the implementation of risk management systems.
During the procedure, Parliament introduced amendments to the bill that harmonised the requirements for public and non-public railway infrastructure managers / railway undertakings and fully transferred the registration of railway vehicles to the European Vehicle Register. According to the amendments, the maintenance of railway infrastructure data will be transferred from the railway traffic register to the register of buildings from the beginning of next year.
64 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Act.
Three Bills passed the first reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Consumer Protection Act and the Explosives Act (779 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. Its idea is to protect consumers from unfair commercial practices by ensuring that green-related claims used as sales arguments for products are actually true. To this end, in order to use arguments such as “environmentally friendly”, “biodegradable” and “energy efficient” in the marketing of their products, traders will have to prove the truth of their claims and obtain confirmation of this from an expert. According to the bill, self-invented sustainability labels and claims that mislead consumers about products’ lifespan and repairability will also be prohibited in the future. Labels will have to be based on a certification scheme or be established by public authorities. When the Act enters into force, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority, which is already the authority exercising supervision over the use of unfair commercial practices, will begin to exercise supervision.
Mart Maastik (Isamaa) and Rain Epler (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took part in the debate.
The Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Isamaa Parliamentary Group moved to reject the Bill at the first reading. 14 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of the motion and 41 were against and thus the Bill passed the first reading.
The Bill on Amendments to the Postal Act, the Competition Act and the State Fees Act (781 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the first reading. It will update the Estonian postal market and ensure the sustainable provision of a universal postal service, taking into account the interests of both users and service providers. In the area of traditional postal services, it is essentially a monopoly market, while there is active competition in courier services. The changing market and international trends necessitate a renewal of the organization and financing of the universal postal service and the requirements applicable to the entire postal market. The bill will significantly reduce the administrative burden: the universal postal service provider will be exempted from the obligation to submit applications for compensation for unreasonably burdensome costs, and other operators will no longer have to apply for a license but will be able to operate on the basis of a notice of economic activities. As a result of the amendments, the cost-effectiveness and stability of the universal postal service will improve, the reporting and licensing procedures will be simplified, and postal services will become more flexibly and better available to users.
The bill also addresses the frequency and forms of service delivery, allowing for flexibility where necessary, but always based on consumer needs and regional balance. It is important to emphasize that the traditional postal service, including home delivery of newspapers and magazines five days a week, will remain in place.
Lauri Laats (Centre Party), Anti Allas (Social Democratic Party), Andres Metsoja (Isamaa) and Minister of Regional Affairs and Agriculture Hendrik Johannes Terras took the floor during the debate.
The Social Democratic Party Group moved to reject the Bill. 16 members of the Riigikogu were in favour of the motion and 41 were against and thus the Bill passed the first reading.
The Bill on Amendments to the Tax Information Exchange Act, the Taxation Act and the Income Tax Act (transposition of the administrative cooperation directive) (795 SE), initiated by the Government, also passed the first reading. IT will strengthen administrative cooperation in tax matters and the exchange of information between the tax authorities of EU Member States. The amendment will help combat tax evasion through global cooperation.
The bill provides for tax reporting obligations for crypto asset service providers. The reporting format is based on the standard for the exchange of crypto asset information agreed upon by OECD countries. When the Act comes into force, the taxation of crypto assets will become transparent. Cryptocurrency service providers will be subject to reporting obligations regarding cryptocurrency exchange and transfer transactions and large-value retail payment transactions. The information will have to be submitted to tax authorities as aggregated data. Among other things, this will enable automatic exchange of information between tax authorities. The bill will not change the rules for the taxation of income from crypto assets.
As a significant amendment, the current so-called extended reporting will be abolished and, in future, Estonian financial institutions will transmit to the Tax and Customs Board the data on only the accounts of non-residents that are subject to international automatic exchange of information. This will reduce situations where financial institutions have to collect and report data more broadly just in case, even if there is no actual automatic exchange of information with a particular country.
The bill will also include in the reporting advance cross-border rulings by the tax authority, including those concerning the tax liability of natural persons. In addition, the data retention procedure will be specified. For example, it will be provided that data from automatic exchange of information will be retained for up to seven years. The regulation of the register of taxable persons will be amended to bring it more into line with the principles of personal data processing.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
+372 631 6353, +372 5558 3993
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