Leistungen A-Z

• Written form required: Yes
• Personal appearance required: No

• Form: Notification of a lottery or draw (§ 29 of the Race Betting and Lottery Act Implementation Ordinance)
• Form: Registration for lottery tax – events with a one-time draw (§ 32 Racing Betting and Lottery Act)
• Form: Registration for lottery tax – events with several draws (§ 32 Racing Betting and Lottery Act)

A lottery is a public game of chance in which, in return for the payment of a fee, a chance of winning is opened up according to a schedule set by the organizer. Chance decides whether to win money or lose the bet. If things or other non-cash benefits can be won instead of money, there is a raffle.

A lottery or draw is public if there is an opportunity for a larger, non-closed group of people to participate or if it is habitually organized in clubs or other closed societies. A lottery or draw is considered public if the authority responsible for the licence considers it to be subject to authorisation.

Publicly organised lotteries and draws are subject to lottery tax if

1. the organiser of the lottery or lottery has his domicile, habitual abode, place of management or registered office in Germany at the time of conclusion of the gaming contract, or

2. the player carries out the actions necessary for the creation of the gaming contract with an organizer based abroad in Germany.

An attached lottery (secondary lottery) is also considered a lottery or draw.

The basis of assessment of the lottery tax is the participation fee paid minus the lottery tax. The entry fee paid is the ticket prize paid by the player to participate in the public lottery or draw, plus any fees set by the organizer. The lottery tax is 20 percent. This tax rate of 20 percent of the net price of the lots corresponds to 16 2/3 percent of the gross price.

Public lotteries and draws permitted by the competent domestic authorities are exempt from lottery tax,

1. for which the total amount of the participation fees paid does not exceed the value of EUR 1 000, or

2. in which the total amount of participation fees paid in a public lottery or lottery for exclusively non-profit, charitable or ecclesiastical purposes does not exceed the value of EUR 40,000 and the net proceeds are used for the aforementioned purposes.

The tax debtor is the organizer of the lottery or draw. The organizer is the person who decisively shapes the game in factual or legal terms.

The tax liability arises with the payment of the participation fee. The lottery tax is due on the 15th day after the end of the registration period. The registration period is the calendar month.

The organizer of a lottery or lottery is subject to numerous recording obligations. The records must show the following information: description of the public lottery or draw; participation fee paid for the respective public lottery or draw; in the case of non-resident organizers, the name and address of the player; conditions for the reduction of the tax base; the date on which the tax is incurred; Amount of the tax and, in the case of a public lottery or lottery for exclusively non-profit, charitable or ecclesiastical purposes, the use of the net proceeds.

Regardless of whether lottery tax is payable for a lottery or draw, the organiser must notify the competent tax office in writing of the name and address of the organiser, the planned number and price of the tickets, the time and place of the ticket sale and the draw, the schedule and – if a tax exemption is to be claimed – the planned amount and use of the net proceeds at least 14 days before the start of the ticket sale.

The obligation to notify does not apply to permitted public lotteries and draws where the planned total price of the tickets does not exceed the value of EUR 1,000 or, in the case of exclusively charitable, charitable or ecclesiastical purposes, the planned total price of the tickets does not exceed EUR 5,000.

If you organize a public lottery or draw, you are obliged to register and pay lottery tax at the responsible tax office.

• Form: Notification of a lottery or draw
• Form: Registration for lottery tax

brief and conclusive explanation of the intended use, insofar as a tax exemption is applied for for a lottery or lottery for exclusively non-profit, charitable or ecclesiastical purposes

There are no fees for filing a tax declaration with the tax office.

Before the start of the ticket sale, report the lottery or draw to the responsible tax office.

At the end of the registration period, you submit a tax return (tax return) to the responsible tax office and pay the tax incurred during the registration period at the due date.

• Notification of a lottery or draw to the tax office no later than 14 days before the start of the ticket sale
• Submission of the tax return to the responsible tax office by the 15th day after the end of the registration period
  • Payment of tax on the due date (15th day after the end of the filing period)

Locally responsible is the tax office in whose district the organizer of the lottery or lottery has his domicile, habitual residence, place of management or registered office. In the state of Brandenburg, the Cottbus tax office is centrally responsible in these cases.

For organisers based abroad, the Frankfurt am Main III tax office is responsible until 30 November 2021 and the Frankfurt am Main IV tax office from 1 December 2021.

• Racing betting and lottery tax office of the Cottbus tax office

• §§ 26 to 35 Racing Betting and Lottery Act
• §§ 22 to 30 Ordinance on the Implementation of the Racing Betting and Lottery Act

• General information about lottery
• Information on race betting and lottery tax
• Racing Betting and Lottery Act
• Ordinance on the Implementation of the Racing Betting and Lottery Act
• State Treaty on the Revision of the Gambling Industry in Germany
• Act on the Implementation of the State Treaty on Gambling 2021 in the State of Brandenburg
• General permission for small lotteries and draws

Ministry of Finance and for Europe of the State of Brandenburg