Legal Betting in New Zealand in 2026: The Two Lawful Brands, the Offshore Reality, and the Operator Field Beyond Them

Updated October 2026

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Current as of 30 October 2026 — checked against the Department of Internal Affairs statements on the Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025, TAB NZ’s published terms, and the register records for each offshore brand reviewed.

A search for “legal betting in New Zealand” usually lands on the wrong question. Players ask whether betting itself is allowed. Operators ask whether a licence exists for the taking of bets. Neither question fits the country as it stands after 28 June 2025, because the answer has been collapsed into a single sentence: only TAB New Zealand, through its two online brands TAB and Betcha, may offer racing and sports betting to a person in New Zealand. There is no licence to apply for, no licence register for bookmakers, and no second lawful path. Every other brand a New Zealand reader encounters online sits on the other side of that line, and the difference is the whole point of this page.

The page is built around that line. The first half covers the law as it currently reads: what the Racing Industry Act 2020 now says, how the Department of Internal Affairs treats an offshore brand serving New Zealand customers, what safer-gambling tools the only lawful operator offers, and what greyhound racing’s closure from 1 August 2026 changes about what may be bet on at all. The second half looks at the field of brands a New Zealand reader actually meets — TAB and Betcha first as the only lawful options, then nine offshore brands rated by the same criteria but flagged for what their licences do not cover. The last sections turn to the arithmetic behind a bet, the question of player taxation, and the five questions readers most often ask.

What the Law Actually Says After 28 June 2025

The Racing Industry Amendment Act 2025 inserted section 74AAA into the Racing Industry Act 2020, and the section took effect on 28 June 2025. Its wording is short: no person other than TAB New Zealand may offer racing betting, sports betting, or other racing or sports betting to a person in New Zealand, regardless of where that person is resident or incorporated. The Department of Internal Affairs, which administers the Act, told providers serving New Zealand customers to withdraw with immediate effect. The change is not an amendment of an existing licensing regime — it is the replacement of one. Before 28 June 2025, the point-of-consumption charge and a small set of licensed offshore operators governed online betting. After that date, only one entity holds the right to take a sports or racing bet from a New Zealand resident, and that entity is the state-backed TAB NZ. The lawful offering flows through two online brands, TAB and Betcha, both of which sit under TAB New Zealand’s licence and run on Entain’s technology under a 25-year partnership signed in 2023. They are not rivals. They are the same operator group with two different front doors.

The Department of Internal Affairs states plainly that it is illegal under New Zealand law for any person or organisation except TAB NZ to offer racing and sports bets to people in New Zealand. The point matters because the wording is the only thing that fixes who the law targets. New Zealand law targets the operator. Section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003, inserted in 2025, states that an individual may not be convicted for placing a bet with an offshore operator in breach of section 74AAA. No published penalty for a player has been found. A reader who places a bet on an offshore site is not, on the wording of the law, committing an offence. The offshore operator taking that bet is.

That asymmetry shapes every comparison on this page. A New Zealand player can technically place a bet with any bookmaker that will accept the registration; whether the player can depend on New Zealand consumer protection if something goes wrong is the separate question. The Department of Internal Affairs warns specifically that overseas operators may be based in jurisdictions with weak consumer safeguards, may not address gambling harm, may not return unspent credits, and may not pay out large wins. Those four warnings are not editorial framing — they are the regulator’s own statement on what changes between the lawful and the offshore path. They are also what the rest of this page turns to.

How TAB NZ Became the Sole Lawful Operator

TAB New Zealand existed before the 2025 amendment as the country’s tote operator and retail betting network. The reform that closed the market to other bookmakers came with a separate commercial change. Entain, the global betting and gaming group, signed a 25-year partnership with TAB NZ in 2023 to run the betting business, take it online, and rebuild its technology. Under that agreement, TAB NZ and Entain split gross profits 50/50, TAB NZ receives at least NZ$150 million a year for the first five years, and Entain pledged a one-off NZ$100 million payment to the racing sector. The 2025 amendment locked in the result: the partner operating the platform became the only platform lawfully available to New Zealand players.

The two online brands sit on the same licence. TAB keeps the heritage tote and racing focus — fixed-odds racing, the pool (tote) bets New Zealand readers know as Win, Place, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie and Big6, plus the sportsbook. Betcha runs the same engine with a younger product feel and a heavier weighting toward sports and Same Game Multis. The racing codes available are thoroughbred, harness (trots), and, until 1 August 2026, greyhound. From that date, greyhound racing closes commercially under the Greyhound Racing Industry Act 2026, and bets on greyhound races are no longer available from TAB NZ or from any other brand.

The commercial logic matters to readers because it fixes the menu. TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy (0.74 per cent, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028) and reports to the Department of Internal Affairs; the partnership’s dividend structure is public. Offshore brands run on their own house rules and report to their own regulators, and the regulator they report to is rarely the Government of Anjouan, the Tobique Gaming Commission, or Curaçao — the three jurisdictions most of the brands reviewed on this page name in their footers.

What May Be Bet On, and What May Not

The Racing Industry Act 2020 covers racing and sports betting only. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 covers online casino gambling only. The two pieces of law do not overlap, and the dividing line is exact. A casino brand licensed in New Zealand under the 2026 Act is licensed to take casino bets, and nothing else. TAB NZ’s recent success in the casino licence application process does not extend the betting monopoly; it extends a separate casino permit that the Department of Internal Affairs administers under separate rules. The page keeps the two lines apart throughout, and a reader who sees a brand named in a casino context ought not read that as a betting endorsement.

Within racing and sports, TAB NZ publishes a defined set of bet types. Win and Place are the foundation. Each Way combines both, paying the Win and Place dividends. Quinella picks the first two in any order. Exacta picks the first two in order. Trifecta and First Four extend the sequence. The Doubles and Quaddies are multi-race bets, where Quaddie asks the bettor to pick the winner of four nominated races and Big6 extends that to six. Multis and Same Game Multis extend the bet type across multiple legs from one sport or from one event. The full menu is in TAB NZ’s published betting rules, and the rules are what govern the bet, not the marketing around it.

Live betting is offered through the TAB NZ apps. No statutory restriction on in-play markets has been confirmed, and the page does not claim one. No lawful New Zealand betting exchange exists, and spread betting is outside TAB NZ’s sports-betting definition; nothing is written here about a New Zealand exchange. Bets on politics and novelty markets: not established, not claimed either way. The page notes these gaps because the regulator’s silence is itself the position.

Player Protection: Age, Identity, Tools

The age for TAB NZ betting is 18. Land-based casinos in New Zealand set the age at 20, and the two figures are not interchangeable. Section 89 of the Racing Industry Act 2020 makes betting under 18 an offence. A reader who is under 20 and betting with an offshore brand is not protected by the higher casino age, but is also not breaking the betting age rule, because that rule is binary on 18.

TAB NZ accounts require a verified New Zealand address and verified identity documents. The verification is the regulator’s requirement, and it is what connects the player to the New Zealand complaints framework. An offshore brand generally accepts the same documents but verifies them under its own jurisdiction’s rules, and the verification does not extend New Zealand protection to the player. The point is structural, not a complaint about offshore brands.

The safer-gambling tools listed in TAB NZ’s app are deposit limits, time-outs, and self-exclusion. The exclusion applies across both TAB NZ brands (TAB and Betcha) — once a player has self-excluded, neither front door reopens the account while the exclusion is active. The Problem Gambling Levy funds harm minimisation across the country. The free Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line (8006) are listed in TAB NZ’s app, alongside Safer Gambling Aotearoa. None of these tools reach an offshore account. A New Zealand player who self-excludes from TAB NZ can still place a bet with any offshore brand that has not closed the account at its end, because there is no single national online-betting exclusion register; the register the 2026 casino law creates is for online casinos only, not sports and racing.

The page treats the tools as an argument about which path a player with concerns about gambling harm ought to take. The argument is structural rather than editorial. A self-excluded player on TAB NZ cannot bet on TAB or Betcha for the duration of the exclusion. A self-excluded player on an offshore brand has only that brand’s own exclusion machinery, which varies, and which a regulator in Anjouan, Tobique or Curaçao oversees rather than the Department of Internal Affairs.

Responsible Gambling Beyond the Operator

The Racing Industry Act 2020 obliges TAB NZ to keep the risks of problem and underage gambling minimised. The Problem Gambling Levy of 0.74 per cent, in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2028, is the funding mechanism. The Department of Internal Affairs administers the framework and publishes guidance. None of this machinery reaches an offshore brand, and the page does not claim that it does.

The regulator’s warnings about overseas operators deserve their own paragraph, because they are the regulator’s own statement of the risk surface:

• The operator may be based in a jurisdiction where consumer protections are weak.
• The operator may not address gambling harm.
• The operator may not return unspent credits.
• The operator may not pay out large wins.

Each of the four is a real scenario a New Zealand reader who bets offshore ought to price into the decision. None is framed as a probability. The regulator chose to publish them as possibilities a player ought to know about before signing up.

The help line — 0800 654 655, free, with a text line at 8006 — is open to anyone in New Zealand regardless of which brand they bet with. Safer Gambling Aotearoa provides further services. The page names these once, in the section that owns them, and refers back to this paragraph from the offshore brand reviews where the same point bites.

Payments, Advertising, and Tax

No statutory payment rule for TAB NZ betting accounts was found in the materials on this page. Card, bank transfer, credit, prepaid, and crypto are all operator-level choices set in TAB NZ’s terms, not in statute. TAB NZ’s own deposit methods and limits apply to its two brands. The Department of Internal Affairs’s warning that overseas operators may not return unspent credits is the regulator’s position on payment risk offshore. No payment-blocking order or bank obligation was found. Nothing in the materials states a rule on crypto or VPN use; account opening at TAB NZ requires a verified New Zealand address, and a VPN does not change that requirement.

Advertising of betting in New Zealand is governed by the Advertising Standards Authority’s Gambling Advertising Code. Ads must not target children (under 14) or young people (14 to under 18), judged by context, appeal, and expected audience — 25 per cent or more of the audience counts as significant where accurate data exists. Ads must not encourage harm, and must be truthful with terms available. No New Zealand equivalent of a “whistle-to-whistle” ban for betting was found in the materials on this page. TAB NZ runs “bonus bets” promotions; no New Zealand rule on bet-bonus size or wagering terms was found, so the page quotes only TAB NZ’s own terms and does not generalise.

Player-side tax is the cleanest part of the picture. Inland Revenue guidance treats recreational gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog, and trotting races is not taxable. A person who bets as a business is a different case — that is general information rather than tax advice, and the practical recommendation is to consult Inland Revenue or an accountant. Operator-side tax is the more complex picture. TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy (0.74 per cent). Overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty (12 per cent of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16 per cent from 1 January 2027). The duty is not a marker of legality; offshore operators paying the duty does not mean a section 74AAA breach is cured, and the page does not write it that way. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets ceased on 30 June 2026, and the cessation is what closed the previous licensing window.

The Ten Operators in This Review

Two operators lead the field because they are the only lawful options in New Zealand, and eight follow because they are the offshore brands a New Zealand reader actually meets. Each operator in the second group is reviewed by the same criteria as the first — what the operator’s own terms say on the licence, the safer-gambling tools, the deposit and withdrawal mechanics, and the bet type — and is flagged for the fact that the licence named does not extend to New Zealand players. The flag is the same for every operator in the second group. The ratings are different, because the operators themselves are different.

The section that follows is not a recommendation. A reader looking for a recommendation is asking which operator to bet with, and the answer in New Zealand has only one shape: TAB and Betcha, with the choice between them being a product choice rather than a regulatory one. The offshore brands are listed because New Zealand readers meet them, and because the comparison is the only way to show what the lawful path buys the player that the offshore path does not.

TAB

TAB is one of two online brands of TAB New Zealand, the only provider lawfully offering racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025. There is no licence register for bookmakers, because there is only this one lawful provider, and the Department of Internal Affairs administers the Act.

TAB sits on the heritage tote product. The bet menu is the full set published in TAB NZ’s betting rules — fixed-odds racing, pool bets (Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, First Four, Double, Treble, Daily Double, Running Double, Quaddie, Big6), Multis, and Same Game Multis. Live betting is offered through the TAB app. The sporting menu covers the codes a New Zealand reader follows — All Blacks tests, Super Rugby Pacific, NRL, Black Caps cricket, Warriors NRL — alongside the global catalogue.

TAB’s safer-gambling tools are deposit limits, time-outs, and self-exclusion, and an exclusion applies across both TAB NZ brands (TAB and Betcha). TAB lists the Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line (8006) in its app, alongside Safer Gambling Aotearoa. Account opening requires a verified New Zealand address and ID. The Problem Gambling Levy (0.74 per cent) funds harm minimisation, and TAB NZ reports to the Department of Internal Affairs.

The verdict on TAB is the structural one. TAB is the lawful path, with New Zealand harm-minimisation tools, regulator oversight, and a complaints framework. For a New Zealand reader who bets on racing and sports, TAB is not the best of several options — it is the only one. The next brand is the same operator group with a different front door, and that is the only meaningful choice.

Betcha

Betcha is the second of the two online brands of TAB New Zealand, sitting on the same section 74AAA licence as TAB. The Department of Internal Affairs names both brands as the only authorised providers for online racing and sports betting in New Zealand. Betcha is not a rival to TAB and never has been — both run on the same Entain-built engine under the 25-year partnership signed in 2023, with a 50/50 gross-profit split and TAB NZ receiving at least NZ$150 million a year for the first five years.

Where TAB keeps the heritage tote focus, Betcha runs a younger product feel with heavier weighting toward sports and Same Game Multis. The racing menu is the same in bet type; the product shell is built around sports bettors. Live betting and the full TAB NZ sporting catalogue are available through Betcha.

Betcha’s safer-gambling tools are the TAB NZ set — deposit limits, time-outs, and self-exclusion — and the exclusion is across both brands. Self-excluding from TAB closes Betcha, and self-excluding from Betcha closes TAB. The Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and text line (8006) are listed.

The verdict on Betcha is the same structural one as for TAB, with the product distinction doing the work. Betcha suits the reader who wants the same regulated environment as TAB but prefers a sports-led product shell and Same Game Multis as the centre of the experience. A reader who wants the heritage tote and the full racing bet menu has no reason to leave TAB. Both brands sit on the same licence and the same Entain platform; the choice between them is interface rather than substance.

FunBet

FunBet is not licensed in New Zealand. It names no licence that applies in the country. Only TAB NZ may offer racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand under section 74AAA. No New Zealand complaints route reaches FunBet.

FunBet’s sportsbook covers football, ice hockey, American football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby, and baseball. Live betting is offered, with a bookmaker described as open 24/7. The product catalogue is competitive on breadth for a reader whose sport is on the list.

For a New Zealand reader, the comparison to TAB NZ runs on three axes. The first is consumer protection: the regulator’s warnings about overseas operators apply in full. The second is harm minimisation: there is no New Zealand exclusion register and no automatic carry-over from a TAB NZ self-exclusion. The third is the operator’s own quality — FunBet is open and offers a reasonable catalogue, which is what its home-jurisdiction licence does or does not cover. None of the three axes turns on FunBet’s own product; they turn on the jurisdiction the licence is issued in.

The verdict on FunBet is that the brand is not a legal option in New Zealand and offers no New Zealand protection. For a reader outside New Zealand who can use the product, the brand’s own terms apply. For a New Zealand reader, the brand’s product is one of several offshore offerings, and the risk sits with the brand, not the regulator — a point for the reader to confirm. FunBet operates without New Zealand-recognised harm minimisation.

Rabona

Rabona is not licensed in New Zealand. It is an offshore brand. Only TAB NZ may offer such bets. No New Zealand complaints route reaches Rabona. The brand launched on 23 December 2019 as the sixth online sportsbook of the Soft2Bet group.

The product is a Curaçao-licensed sportsbook and casino offering. The catalogue and the brand’s own marketing claims are not on the pages the materials on this site review; the brand’s own terms govern.

The verdict on Rabona is the same structural one as for FunBet. The Curaçao licence does not extend to New Zealand players, the regulator’s four warnings about overseas operators apply in full, and there is no New Zealand exclusion register or self-exclusion carry-over from TAB. The product is a competitive Curaçao offering; for the New Zealand player, the comparison is to the regulated TAB path.

RTbet

RTbet is not licensed in New Zealand. It is an offshore brand. Players there lack local complaints support.

RTbet’s sportsbook covers football, tennis, table tennis, basketball, ice hockey, American football, and baseball, with live betting and virtual sports. The virtual sports line is the distinguishing feature — the simulated-event offering is part of the catalogue rather than a separate product.

The verdict on RTbet is the same structural one as for FunBet and Rabona. The product line is reasonable on its own terms; the comparison to the regulated TAB path is the primary takeaway.

Sportaza

Sportaza is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand’s footer states it is licensed by the Government of the Autonomous Island of Anjouan, Union of Comoros, under licence No. ALSI-202606064-FI2, while its terms (section 1.4) cite licence No. 0000067 issued by Tobique. It is an offshore brand. Players there lack local complaints support.

The dual-licence structure is itself worth noting. A footer that names one regulator and a terms page that names another is a transparency flag rather than a regulatory cover. The jurisdiction the regulator oversees is the jurisdiction the player takes the bet under, and the two regulators on Sportaza’s own materials disagree with each other.

The verdict on Sportaza is the same structural one as for the other offshore brands, with the additional flag that the brand’s own licence disclosure is inconsistent. The product is one of several offshore offerings; the risk is identical to the other offshore cases, and the licence inconsistency is a factor to weigh carefully. Like other offshore brands, Sportaza lacks local harm-minimisation tools.

Rooster.bet

Rooster.bet is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand is operated by Novatrix SRL, a company incorporated in Costa Rica, under e-gaming licence No. 0000002 issued by the Tobique Gaming Commission. No New Zealand complaints route reaches Rooster.bet.

The Tobique licence is one of the newer e-gaming structures and has not been the subject of a New Zealand mutual-recognition arrangement that this page can document. The Tobique regulator oversees the licence; the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs does not.

The verdict on Rooster.bet is the same structural one as for the other offshore brands. The Tobique licence does not extend to New Zealand players, the regulator’s warnings about overseas operators apply in full, and there is no New Zealand exclusion register or self-exclusion carry-over from TAB. The product is one of several offshore offerings; the brand carries its own risk profile. Rooster.bet provides no New Zealand-recognised harm-minimisation framework.

RoyalistPlay

RoyalistPlay is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand is owned and operated by Novatrix SRL, a Costa Rica company, and holds e-gaming licence No. 0000002 from the Tobique Gaming Commission. It is an offshore brand. Players there lack local complaints support.

RoyalistPlay and Rooster.bet share the same operator, the same Costa Rica incorporation, and the same Tobique licence number. The brands are sibling products on the same licence.

The verdict on RoyalistPlay is the same structural one as for Rooster.bet. The shared operator and licence are worth noting for a reader who has read one of the two reviews: the same Tobique cover and the same limitations apply. The brand carries its own risk.

Winz.io

Winz.io is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand’s footer states it holds a licence delivered by Anjouan and Tobique. It is an offshore operator that offers no local complaints support.

The dual-jurisdiction structure is similar to Sportaza’s, and the same flag applies: a brand naming two regulators is a transparency signal rather than additional cover. The two regulators oversee the licence in their respective jurisdictions; neither oversees the operator’s relationship with a New Zealand player.

The verdict on Winz.io follows the offshore pattern. The dual-jurisdiction licence disclosure does not extend to New Zealand players, the regulator’s warnings about overseas operators apply in full, and there is no New Zealand exclusion register or self-exclusion carry-over from TAB. The structural position for a New Zealand reader is unchanged.

Spinbara

Spinbara is not licensed in New Zealand. The brand names no licence that applies in New Zealand. No New Zealand complaints route reaches Spinbara.

Spinbara advertises a first-deposit bonus of 100 per cent up to EUR 100, a sport crypto welcome bonus of 100 per cent up to 200 USDT, and a casino welcome bonus of 100 per cent up to EUR 500 plus 200 free spins. The bonus line is the product’s distinguishing feature; the marketing pushes the welcome package hard, and the wagering terms behind the package sit in the brand’s own terms.

For a New Zealand reader, the bonus line is a reason to read the terms carefully even if the structural position were the same as every other offshore brand — and the structural position is the same as every other offshore brand: not licensed in New Zealand, no New Zealand complaints route, no New Zealand exclusion register, no carry-over from a TAB NZ self-exclusion. A bonus that looks generous in the marketing reads differently once the wagering terms, minimum price, deadline, and cap on winnings are in front of the reader.

The verdict on Spinbara is another instance of the same offshore structural position, with the additional note that the bonus line is exactly where the brand spends its marketing budget. A New Zealand reader weighing this brand ought to read the wagering terms before signing up, and ought to know that the wagering terms sit under a licence whose regulator does not oversee the operator’s relationship with a New Zealand player.

The Operator Comparison

The table is not a ranking. The two TAB NZ brands are the only lawful options, and the structural risk on the other eight is the same in kind — a licence whose regulator does not oversee the operator’s relationship with a New Zealand player. The table exists to put that fact in front of the reader in a single view, and to show what each operator’s own terms say on the question.

What a Bet Actually Costs the Bettor

The arithmetic of a bet is the part of the page a marketing page rarely carries. A bookmaker’s margin sits inside every price, and the price a player sees is the price after the margin. For a two-way market at decimal odds of 1.90 and 1.90, the payout share is the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals: 1 ÷ (1 ÷ 1.90 + 1 ÷ 1.90) = 0.95, or 95 per cent. The margin is 5 per cent. A player who stakes NZ$500 across this market once, in the proportions the market dictates, has a 95 per cent chance of returning NZ$475 of stake and NZ$25 of profit on the winning outcome — and a 5 per cent chance of losing the NZ$500 stake on the losing outcome. The expected cost is the turnover multiplied by the margin: NZ$500 × 0.05 = NZ$25.

The result is a band, not a single figure. The expected loss of NZ$25 is the average across many bets; any single bet pays either NZ$475 (the win) or returns nothing (the loss). The band the player actually occupies on any single bet is NZ$0 or NZ$475; the expected cost is the long-run average, not a guaranteed outcome. The point of stating the arithmetic is to put a number on the gap between the marketing price and the realised price — a 1.90 / 1.90 market looks generous until the margin is the only number the player keeps paying into.

New Zealand has no statutory betting deposit or loss limit. The NZ$500 turnover is an example, not a quoted price or a regulator-set ceiling, and the page treats it as the budget figure a reader can substitute their own number into. A player who bets NZ$200 at the same margin has an expected cost of NZ$10; a player who bets NZ$5,000 at the same margin has an expected cost of NZ$250. The arithmetic is the same at every stake size.

What “Not Licensed in New Zealand” Costs the Reader

The regulator’s warnings about overseas operators are the regulator’s own statement of what changes between the lawful and the offshore path. They are the structural cost of choosing the offshore path, and they recur across every offshore brand reviewed on this page.

The first is consumer protection. An overseas operator may be based in a jurisdiction where consumer safeguards are weak. The regulator is the Anjouan Gaming Authority, the Tobique Gaming Commission, or the Curaçao Gaming Authority, and the player’s complaint route runs through that regulator, not through the Department of Internal Affairs. The second is gambling harm. The operator’s own responsible-gambling tools may or may not include a self-exclusion that survives across brands and across the operator’s product set; the New Zealand exclusion register does not exist, and a TAB NZ self-exclusion does not reach an offshore account. The third is unspent credits. An operator in a jurisdiction with weak consumer safeguards may not return the balance. The fourth is large wins. The operator may not pay out a large win.

The four warnings are not probabilities. The Department of Internal Affairs chose to publish them as possibilities, and the page carries them as possibilities. A reader who decides to bet offshore prices those four possibilities into the decision, knowing that the regulator’s position is on the record.

Player-Side Tax and What It Means for the Reader

Inland Revenue guidance treats recreational gambling winnings as generally not taxable, and prize money from TAB horse, dog, and trotting races is not taxable. A reader who bets recreationally on TAB NZ and wins pays no tax on the winnings. A reader who bets recreationally on an offshore brand and wins is in the same general position — recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxable — though the offshore operator’s reporting to Inland Revenue is its own affair rather than the player’s.

A reader who bets as a business is a different case. Inland Revenue treats professional or business-like gambling as taxable income, and the threshold is not a single dollar figure but a facts-and-circumstances test (frequency, stake size, systems used, time spent). The page does not adjudicate that test. The general information here is that a recreational bettor does not pay tax on winnings, and a business-like bettor is advised to consult Inland Revenue or an accountant.

Operator-side tax is the more complex picture, and the page treats it as context. TAB NZ pays the Problem Gambling Levy (0.74 per cent). Overseas operators supplying New Zealand residents pay online gambling duty (12 per cent of profits since 1 July 2024, rising to 16 per cent from 1 January 2027). The duty is not a marker of legality, and the page does not write it that way. The point-of-consumption charge on offshore racing and sports bets ceased on 30 June 2026, closing the previous licensing window and leaving the 2025 amendment’s section 74AAA as the only path to a New Zealand betting licence.

What the Closure of Greyhound Racing Changes

The Greyhound Racing Industry Act 2026, passed on 2 April 2026, closes commercial greyhound racing in New Zealand from 1 August 2026. From that date, no brand — TAB NZ, Betcha, or any offshore operator — may take bets on greyhound races held in New Zealand. Bets on greyhound races held outside New Zealand sit in a different position, and the regulator’s position is not established on this page. The page does not write on that question.

The greyhound menu at TAB NZ today is Win, Place, Each Way, Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, and First Four on greyhound races. From 1 August 2026, that menu disappears for races held in New Zealand. The harness and thoroughbred menus continue. The change is part of the broader racing industry transition and is one of the reasons the Department of Internal Affairs’s racing policy page has been updated more than once in 2025 and 2026.

The Practical Order of Tests Before Signing Up

A New Zealand reader choosing an operator runs through the same four tests whether the brand is TAB, Betcha, or any of the offshore brands reviewed here.

The first is the licence test. Does the brand hold a licence that applies in New Zealand? For TAB and Betcha, the answer is yes — section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020. For the other eight, the answer is no, and the brand’s own licence (Curaçao, Anjouan, Tobique) governs the player’s relationship with the operator.

The second is the harm-minimisation test. Does the brand offer deposit limits, time-outs, and self-exclusion, and does the exclusion reach the brand’s other products? For TAB and Betcha, the answer is yes — the exclusion reaches both brands. For the offshore brands, the answer is brand-specific, and the reader is encouraged to check the brand’s own responsible-gambling page rather than assume.

The third is the payment test. What are the deposit and withdrawal methods, the minimum and maximum amounts, and the time it takes for a withdrawal to clear? For TAB and Betcha, the answer is in the terms. For the offshore brands, the answer is in the brand’s own cashier page, and the Department of Internal Affairs’s warning that overseas operators may not return unspent credits applies.

The fourth is the bonus test. If a welcome bonus is offered, what are the wagering terms, the minimum price for a qualifying bet, the deadline, and the cap on winnings? For TAB and Betcha, the answer is in the bonus terms. For the offshore brands, the same answer is in the brand’s own terms, and a reader who skips that read signs up to a marketing claim rather than a product offer.

What a Player With Concerns About Gambling Harm Might Do

The page is not a tipster, and it does not recommend a course of action. The page is also not neutral about the structural position. A reader who has decided to limit their betting is encouraged to use the structural position, because the structural position is what the harm-minimisation tools are built on.

The first step is to set a deposit limit on the account. TAB NZ’s app sets a deposit limit as a single action, and the limit applies across both TAB NZ brands. The second step is to set a time-out, which closes the account for a defined period. The third step is to self-exclude, which closes the account for a longer defined period and which the Department of Internal Affairs’s framework backs. None of these tools reach an offshore account.

A reader who has decided to stop betting entirely is advised to self-exclude from TAB NZ, then contact each offshore brand they have signed up with and request an exclusion at the brand’s end. The brand’s own responsible-gambling page is where the request lives, and the regulator the brand reports to is the regulator who oversees the exclusion.

The Gambling Helpline (0800 654 655) and the text line (8006) are open to anyone in New Zealand regardless of which brand they have used. Safer Gambling Aotearoa provides further services. The page names these once, in this section, and refers back here from any section that touches the same point.

Where the Page Stops

The page is built around the structural position rather than the operator reviews. The two lawful brands are the answer to the question of what is lawful; the eight offshore brands are the comparison that makes the answer concrete. The arithmetic in the section on what a bet costs the bettor is the page’s core analysis — the number behind the marketing price, the long-run cost of a 1.90 / 1.90 market at a 5 per cent margin.

A reader who came to this page for the operator reviews has them. A reader who came for the law has it. A reader who came for the comparison has the table. A reader who came for the arithmetic has it. A reader who came for the safer-gambling tools has them. A reader who came for the greyhound closure has it. A reader who came for the player-side tax position has it. The page does not carry a recommendation; the law carries it, and the law is the same on every site of this pack.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are offshore betting sites legal?

Offshore betting sites are not licensed in New Zealand. Only TAB New Zealand, through its two online brands TAB and Betcha, may offer racing and sports betting to a person in New Zealand under section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020, in force since 28 June 2025. The Department of Internal Affairs targets the offshore operator; section 19(4) of the Gambling Act 2003 states that an individual may not be convicted for placing such a bet. No published penalty for a player was found.

How is betting on horse racing legal?

Betting on horse racing is legal through TAB New Zealand, which offers fixed-odds and tote betting on thoroughbred and harness races. The greyhound racing code closes commercially from 1 August 2026 under the Racing Industry (Closure of Greyhound Racing Industry) Amendment Bill passed on 2 April 2026. No other brand may lawfully offer racing bets to people in New Zealand.

Is any online sports betting legal?

Online sports betting is legal through TAB NZ and Betcha, the two online brands of TAB New Zealand. Section 74AAA of the Racing Industry Act 2020 names TAB NZ as the only operator permitted to offer racing and sports betting to people in New Zealand. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 licenses online casino gambling only and does not extend to sports betting.

Which bookmaker may lawfully take sports and racing bets in New Zealand?

TAB New Zealand is the only bookmaker that may lawfully take sports and racing bets from people in New Zealand. The betting flows through two online brands, TAB and Betcha, both of which sit under TAB NZ’s section 74AAA licence. Both brands run on the same Entain-built platform under a 25-year partnership signed in 2023.

Are TAB and Betcha two different bookmakers?

TAB and Betcha are two online brands of the same operator group, TAB New Zealand. Both brands sit under the same section 74AAA licence and run on the same Entain platform. A self-exclusion at one brand closes the other. The product distinction is the interface — TAB keeps the heritage tote focus while Betcha runs a younger, sports-led product shell.

Prepared by the Nzbankbets editorial staff.