A real licence in law and an almost theoretical one in practice. The 2021 reform gave the National Lottery power to authorise operators for up to ten years on a single payment, but no public application window has opened, and roughly one operator holds a licence. Read this page before you pay an adviser to chase it.
| Regulator | Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia (LNB), regulator and operator since the 2021 organic law |
|---|---|
| Law | Ley Orgánica de la Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, in force since December 2021 |
| How it is granted | Licence, contract, concession or public-private partnership, at the LNB board’s discretion |
| Term | Up to ten years |
| Company | A Salvadoran entity or branch, with a local representative before the tax authority |
| Tax | 30% corporate income tax, 13% VAT, 1.75% advance payment, plus the LNB canon |
| Scope | Nothing in the law confines a licensee to Salvadoran players |
| Public register | None published — the LNB names no register of third-party authorisations |
| Status | No open application window as of August 2026 |
Everything here follows from one law and one decision that has not been taken.
Nothing has been published that opens licensing to new applicants. The decision remains discretionary, with no tariff, no timeline and no register.
The count is the honest measure of the regime: a framework exists, a market does not.
The National Lottery becomes both operator and regulator of all gambling, including online, and gains the power to authorise domestic and foreign applicants.
The Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia runs the national lottery and, since 2021, regulates everything else: casinos, betting and online gaming. Article 34 of the organic law lets it authorise domestic or foreign persons to operate regulated games, which is the legal hook every adviser selling this licence points at.
What the law does not create is a process. There is no application portal, no published fee schedule beyond the statutory figure, no service standard and no register of who has been authorised. A regulator that is also the incumbent operator has little pressure to open one, and so far it has not.
The law covers gambling broadly rather than splitting it into product licences. In practice the terms of any authorisation are whatever the LNB negotiates.
The headline is attractive and the arithmetic afterwards is not.
| Licence fee | ~€100,000 one-off, for up to ten years |
|---|---|
| Annual renewal | None no recurring licence fee |
| LNB canon | up to 25% of gross income less prizes, from year two |
| Corporate income tax | 30% |
| VAT | 13% |
| Advance payment | 1.75% on account of income tax |
| Local presence | Entity or branch plus a representative before the tax authority |
| Regulator | Presence | Compliance | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year one | ~€100,000 | €12,000 | €10,000 | ≈€122,000 |
| Year two | — | €10,000 | €8,000 | ≈€18,000 + canon |
Spread over a ten-year term the fee looks cheap, which is how it is sold. The canon is the real cost: up to a quarter of gross income after prizes, from the second licence year, on top of 30% corporate tax. Model it before the fee impresses you.
There is no published process, so what follows is the shape of it rather than a timetable.
A Salvadoran entity or branch with a representative registered before the tax authority.
Owners, source of funds, financial standing and technical specification, prepared to the LNB’s compliance and inspection department’s satisfaction.
Application forms are requested from the LNB rather than downloaded, which is the first point at which the absence of an open window becomes concrete.
The compliance and inspection department verifies the documents, the operator’s finances and the technical setup.
The LNB board grants or denies. There is no published service standard and no appeal route on offer.
No published restricted list exists, which is not the same as no restrictions.
Because the LNB publishes no blocked-territory list, the obligation falls entirely on the operator to work out where it may legally sell and to geo-block accordingly. That is a heavier compliance burden than it sounds, and it is one reason payment providers ask more questions about this licence than its ten-year term would suggest.
Acquirers underwrite what they can verify. With no public register, an El Salvador licence is a PDF and a company extract, which puts you in the same conversation as the weakest offshore jurisdictions despite the price. Expect gaming-specialist providers, reserves and a longer onboarding.
The tax profile matters here too: a 30% corporate rate plus the canon changes the cash position a provider is underwriting, and it is worth having modelled before the first call.
Below Curaçao despite costing more, mostly because there is nothing public to check.
Harder here than anywhere else on this site, because the regulator publishes no register.
Ask for the authorisation document itself, not a certificate of incorporation.
Check that the named entity matches the company operating the brand.
Ask which instrument was granted — licence, contract or concession — and for how long.
Write to the LNB to confirm. With no register, correspondence with the regulator is the only verification that exists.
| El Salvador | Curaçao | Nevis | Anjouan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year one | ≈€122,000 | ≈€97,000 | ≈€31,000 | €17,000–22,000 |
| Can you apply today | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tax on gaming revenue | Canon up to 25% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Corporate tax | 30% | 2% | 0% on foreign revenue | 0% |
| Public register | No | Yes | Yes | Disputed |
| Term | Up to 10 years | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
On paper the ten-year term is the most attractive line in this table. In practice the column that decides it is the second one: three of these four jurisdictions will take your application this month.
There is no annual renewal to miss — the fee covers the term. What replaces it is the canon, payable from the second licence year on gross income after prizes, and ordinary tax compliance with a 30% corporate rate.
The risk profile is different from other jurisdictions too. A discretionary authorisation from a regulator that is also the market’s largest operator can be renegotiated in ways a rules-based licence cannot, and there is no published appeal route if it is.
Not through any published route. The National Lottery has not opened a public licensing window, there is no tariff or timeline on offer and no register of authorised third parties. Treat anyone selling one as selling access to a discretionary decision.
The law sets a one-time fee of about €100,000 for a licence of up to ten years, with no annual renewal fee. Company formation, a local representative and compliance sit on top, and from the second licence year the LNB takes a canon of up to 25% of gross income after prizes.
Yes in the sense that nothing in the law confines a licensee to Salvadoran players, which is why it is marketed to offshore operators. It still does not override the law of the country your player sits in.
Corporate income tax of 30%, VAT of 13% and a 1.75% advance payment on account, plus the LNB canon. This is the heaviest tax profile of any jurisdiction on this site.
Yes — a local entity or a branch, with a representative who deals with the tax authority on its behalf. There is no residency requirement for that person.
Roughly one active licensee as of mid-2026. That is the clearest measure of how open this jurisdiction actually is.
The Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia, which since the 2021 organic law both operates and regulates gambling, including online, and may authorise third parties by licence, contract or concession.
Only if you have a reason to be in Central America specifically. For an offshore licence you can actually obtain this quarter, Curaçao, Nevis or Anjouan are the realistic answers.
Available now, a public register, and payment acceptance this licence does not have.
≈€97,000 · 6–8 monthsA 2025 regime with a register, at a quarter of the first-year cost.
≈€31,000 · 8–12 weeksThe fast, cheap end of the market, with the recognition problem that comes with it.
€17,000–22,000 · 4–6 weeks