New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs is allocating up to 15 online casino licenses under the newly enacted Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, with unlicensed offshore operators required to stop serving New Zealand players from December 1, 2026, according to NewCasinoRank's review of the regulatory rollout.

Two Decades of an Unregulated Market
For roughly 20 years, New Zealanders gambled on offshore casino sites licensed in jurisdictions such as Malta, Cyprus, Gibraltar and Great Britain, with no local tax obligation, no consumer protection standard, and no regulatory recourse if something went wrong. Per a DOT Loves Data study commissioned by the Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealanders deposited an estimated NZ$1.36 billion into online gambling accounts over the year to September 2025, with offshore-licensed operators capturing 96.3% of that spend across roughly 360,000 unique customers.

How the Licensing Process Works
The new regime replaces that grey market with a structured, three-stage allocation process. Applicants first filed a non-refundable expression of interest, a stage that closed on August 14, 2026. According to the Department of Internal Affairs, the next stage is a competitive ascending-clock auction expected in September, which grants successful bidders the right to lodge a full license application; final licenses are expected to be issued in early 2027. Each license is tied to a single brand, and no operator may hold significant influence over more than three.
Global operators including Entain and SkyCity Entertainment have publicly confirmed plans to bid for the maximum three licenses each, while several other established brands have signaled interest in the process, according to New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs.
"This isn't just a licensing exercise, it's New Zealand admitting its prohibition-adjacent approach never actually kept players away from online casinos, only away from any protection once they got there," said Chloe O'Sullivan, lead data analyst at https://newcasinorank.com/. "The real test isn't how many licenses get issued, it's whether enough of that NZ$1.36 billion in offshore spend actually migrates onto the regulated side before enforcement teeth kick in."

Tax Take Still in Dispute
The offshore gambling duty is set to rise from 12% to 16% of gross gambling revenue from January 2027, with a share ring-fenced for community funding. But the fiscal upside remains contested: according to RNZ reporting, government modeling has put likely first-year revenue at a fraction of the roughly NZ$179 million a year originally projected during the reform's campaign phase.

What Happens After December
Operators active in New Zealand before May 1, 2026 may continue serving players without advertising until the December 1 deadline, but any operator that has not applied for a license by then must exit the market entirely. The Department of Internal Affairs has signaled it will use takedown notices, enforceable undertakings, and penalties of up to NZ$5 million for companies that continue operating unlicensed.
As the auction stage approaches, NewCasinoRank will continue tracking which brands secure licenses and how quickly the regulated market absorbs New Zealand's offshore player base.
Learn more here - https://newcasinorank.com/news/nz-licensing-taxes-in-online-casinos/

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Sources:
Department of Internal Affairs, DOT Loves Data, RNZ