Belgium

Belgium regulates online casino and betting through the Belgian Gaming Commission, under a distinctive model that ties every online licence to a land-based counterpart: A+ for casino, B+ for gaming arcades and F1+ for betting, each limited in number and requiring a separate player account per vertical. Tax is a regional 11% of GGR applied uniformly across the Walloon, Flemish and Brussels regions, and since 2024 this tax is no longer deductible for income-tax purposes, raising the effective burden. Belgium has pursued an aggressive player-protection agenda: from September 2024 the minimum gambling age was raised to 21 for all gambling including betting, bonuses and incentives were banned, and sports-club shirt sponsorship ended from 2025. A new player-identification obligation took effect in May 2026. A significant structural change is pending - the Constitutional Court ordered an end to the discriminatory treatment between the National Lottery and private operators by 31 December 2026, which could reshape competitive conditions. The land-based-linkage requirement is the market's defining barrier, effectively limiting online licences to established physical operators and constraining new entry. For operators, Belgium offers moderate tax but a tightly controlled, protection-heavy environment with a bonus ban that limits customer-acquisition tools. The direction of travel is toward stricter conduct rules and resolution of the lottery-versus-private-operator imbalance, making it a constrained but stable market best suited to operators with an existing Belgian land-based footprint.