Alderney Gaming License

Cost boundary

Each new Category 1 or Category 2 full license carries a GBP 17,500 first-year annual fee if the relevant licensed activity has not previously been carried on in Alderney; another new application is GBP 35,000. A full license application starts with a GBP 10,000 investigation deposit. AGCC charges actual investigation and processing costs against it, can require a further GBP 10,000 deposit, and returns or reallocates any surplus. Before launch, the published deposits are GBP 10,000 for ICS approval and GBP 5,000 for equipment approval. Independent testing, GBP 1,000 deposits for each Key Individual application, corporate setup, and investigation overruns are separate. Category 2 is GBP 35,000 on each later anniversary. Category 1 anniversary fees run from GBP 35,000 below GBP 500,000 annualized NGY to GBP 400,000 at GBP 30 million or more, with intermediate bands of GBP 60,000, GBP 80,000, GBP 130,000, GBP 200,000, and GBP 290,000, plus GBP 3,000 per gambling business associate. A Category 1 or Category 2 associate certificate is GBP 35,000 in an eligible first year or GBP 50,000 otherwise. Category 1 associate anniversary fees can also include the applicable NGY supplement, and both associate types add GBP 3,000 per gambling business associate. Core Services Associate and Temporary eGambling licenses are GBP 10,000 annually. A hosting certificate has no annual fee. These figures are not an all-in budget.

Process timing

AGCC says suitability and license approval averages 60 days from receipt, with cases ranging from less than one month to more than one year. Initial equipment approval averages 60 days, initial ICS approval averages 70 days, and new game approvals average 21 days. These tracks can run in parallel or in sequence. From the Commission side, live activation is routinely achievable within six months of the initial application, but applicant readiness and complete submissions control the result. The public list of recent grants also shows wide variation, so four to twelve weeks is not a verified end-to-end promise.

Tax / revenue model

The reviewed AGCC fee schedule contains annual license and certificate fees and no separate percentage gaming-duty line. Category 1 annual fees are nevertheless tied to annualized NGY, so saying the regime charges nothing on GGR is misleading. Guernsey Revenue Service publishes company tax rates of 0 percent, 10 percent, or 20 percent depending on the nature of the business; foreign ownership does not establish a 0 percent rate. Pillar Two income-inclusion and domestic minimum top-up tax rules apply to multinational groups meeting the EUR 750 million revenue threshold for accounting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2025. The applicant's actual tax rate and economic-substance obligations require entity-specific analysis.

Applicant / local requirements

A full Category 1 or Category 2 license can be granted only to an Alderney company. A promoter can apply before incorporation if AGCC is satisfied that the company will be incorporated. After a full license application is filed, the applicant must publish notice in the next Alderney Official Gazette. A company incorporated outside Alderney can use an associate certificate. A Category 1 associate must appoint a resident representative named in its approved ICS unless it has a Key Individual resident in the Bailiwick. All gambling equipment must be in AGCC-approved premises. Guernsey premises require a hosting certificate; approved premises outside the Bailiwick do not. The official material reviewed does not publish a universal resident-director or local-employee count.

Term / continuation

Licenses and certificates are issued for an indefinite period unless surrendered, lapsed, suspended, or revoked. The holder pays the issue fee within seven days and the applicable annual fee in advance of each anniversary. Nonpayment suspends the authorization. If the amount remains unpaid one month after issue or the anniversary, the authorization is deemed lapsed unless AGCC extends the period. The anniversary amount depends on the authorization type and, for Category 1, annualized NGY.

The Alderney eGambling (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 took effect January 1, 2026. It added a broad definition of promotion, changed the customer-due-diligence trigger to the first point at which total deposits reach or exceed EUR 3,000 without a rolling reset, updated the application form, and removed hard-copy filing requirements. The States of Guernsey approved the Alderney eGambling (Operations in Guernsey) (Amendment) Ordinance 2026 by 35 votes to 0 with 1 abstention on June 24, 2026. The ordinance took effect July 1, 2026, expressly criminalizing unlicensed organizing, promoting, or effecting of gambling transactions in Guernsey and aligning the definition of promotion with Alderney.