Quick answer
It is not illegal for a person in New Zealand to gamble on an offshore casino website, but a site holding only an offshore licence is not licensed here. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 took effect on 1 May 2026 and is building a licensed New Zealand market, expected to be fully running in 2027. Sports and racing betting is different: since 28 June 2025, only TAB NZ may take those bets from people in New Zealand.
New Zealand's online gambling rules changed twice in two years, and most articles on the internet have not caught up. This page is the short, accurate version as at October 2026.
The short version for players
- Casino games at offshore sites: legal for you to play, but the operator is not licensed
in New Zealand and you are not protected by New Zealand consumer law.
- Sports and racing betting: since 28 June 2025, only TAB NZ may take or promote these
bets from people in New Zealand. Offshore bookmakers offering NZ sport are acting outside the law.
- New licensed online casinos: the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 began on 1 May 2026.
Up to 15 licences can be issued and the market is expected to be fully operational in 2027.
- Advertising: promoting overseas gambling to New Zealanders is prohibited and carries
penalties. That includes affiliate content, which is why a site like this one needs to be transparent about what it is.
- Tax: ordinary recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable in New Zealand.
What the Gambling Act 2003 says
The Gambling Act 2003 generally prohibits remote interactive gambling conducted in New Zealand, with exceptions for authorised products such as Lotto NZ and TAB. That prohibition is aimed at operators and advertising rather than at a person sitting at home: the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) confirms that gambling conducted overseas is not itself prohibited for the individual.
In other words, the law does not stop you playing at an offshore casino. What it does mean is that:
- An offshore operator has no New Zealand licence and no local regulator.
- If you have a dispute about a withdrawal or a locked account, you cannot take it to a New
Zealand regulator or use New Zealand's dispute mechanisms.
- The New Zealand harm-minimisation framework, including Multi-Venue Exclusion, does not
apply to an offshore account.
Section 16 of the Act also prohibits advertising overseas gambling, and DIA reads this broadly: publicising or promoting an overseas operator, or content reasonably likely to induce people to gamble overseas, is caught. That is a real constraint on what a review site can lawfully publish, and it is the reason our pages describe operators rather than urge you to join them.
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026
The Online Casino Gambling Bill passed its third reading on 23 April 2026 and the resulting Act commenced on 1 May 2026. It is the first attempt to create a licensed online casino market for New Zealand rather than relying on prohibition.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Started | 1 May 2026 |
| Licences available | Up to 15, awarded competitively — not necessarily all issued |
| Fully operational | Expected 2027 |
| Transition protection | Operators serving NZ before 1 May 2026 may continue during the transition |
| Hard cut-off | From 1 December 2026, providers that have not applied for a licence must cease serving New Zealand |
| Advertised brands | DIA has not yet published which brands will operate under future licences |
| Age | 18 and over |
| Advertising | Prohibited until licensing, and restricted afterwards; affiliate marketing and paid endorsements are being prohibited |
The practical takeaway: if you see a casino calling itself a "New Zealand licensed online casino" today, that claim is premature. Licensing is staged, and until DIA publishes the licensed brands, no operator can honestly claim NZ licensed status.
Sports betting is a separate rule
This is the point most guides get wrong. The Racing Industry Act 2020 was amended so that, from 28 June 2025, only TAB NZ may promote or take racing and sports bets from people located in New Zealand. DIA's guidance is explicit that overseas sites offering these bets to New Zealanders are breaking New Zealand law, and it directs customers to TAB and to Betcha, the online brand operated under Entain's partnership with TAB NZ.
Entain and TAB NZ began a 25-year strategic partnership on 1 June 2023. TAB NZ remains the statutory body; Entain provides the operational and commercial platform. For a Kiwi punter, the result is simple: TAB and Betcha are the compliant places to bet on New Zealand sport.
So when you see an offshore casino advertising a sportsbook with Super Rugby markets, that product is not something you can lawfully use from New Zealand for NZ sport. Casino games and sports betting are legally separate activities with separate rules.
Do you pay tax on gambling winnings?
For a recreational player, no. Inland Revenue's guidance on prize money says raffle, Lotto and TAB racing winnings are generally not taxable, and gambling winnings are not treated as income unless the gambling forms part of a taxable activity — for example if you are running a business of it. If your betting is organised enough to look like a trade, get professional tax advice; for everyone else, winnings are not taxed at the player level.
The taxes that do exist are charged to operators, not to you:
- GST on remote services: an offshore supplier of remote services to New Zealand customers
generally registers once taxable supplies exceed NZ$60,000 in a 12-month period. For online gambling, taxable supplies are money received from NZ residents minus prizes paid, and the standard rate is 15%.
- Offshore online gambling duty: a 12% duty has applied since 1 July 2024 to qualifying
offshore online gambling operators, calculated on online gambling profits.
- Under the new regime: a rise to 16% from 1 January 2027 has been reported, along with
additional levies. Confirm current rates with Inland Revenue and DIA before relying on them.
How many New Zealanders gamble online?
According to the 2023/24 New Zealand Gambling Survey, 3.6% of the population aged 15 and over — about 156,000 people — took part in any overseas online gambling activity in the previous 12 months. A narrower indicator found 1.4%, about 60,000 people, had played online casino games or online poker with an overseas provider in the same period.
For scale, DIA's expenditure statistics put total New Zealand gambling expenditure at NZ$2.792 billion in 2023/24: NZ$371 million on TAB, NZ$792 million on Lotto NZ, NZ$1.037 billion on non-casino gaming machines, and NZ$592 million in casinos. A 2024 regulatory impact statement estimated the offshore online casino market at somewhere between NZ$300 million and NZ$800 million for 2022/23, which is a policy estimate with a wide range rather than a measured total.
What this means for how you use this site
We are an editorial review site. We describe operators, explain what we could and could not verify, and publish our methodology. We are not licensed in New Zealand, we do not take bets and we do not hold player funds.
Two honest warnings. First, if a site ranks offshore casinos and offers click-through links, New Zealand's advertising prohibition may apply to it — that is a legal question for each publisher and for their advisers, not something a disclaimer on a page resolves. Second, our ratings are our opinion based on published evidence, not a guarantee of anything.
If you are in New Zealand and you want a fully regulated betting experience, TAB and Betcha are the licensed options for sport. If you want support with your gambling, the Gambling Helpline is free and confidential 24/7 on 0800 654 655 or text 8006.