Lottery, raffle or traditional lottery organized by an association

Verified 25 August 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)

You run an association and you want to know if you can organize gambling? In principle, apart from the national lottery and casinos, gambling is prohibited. However, the organization of lotteries or traditional raffles and lotteries are allowed to associations under certain conditions. We present you the information to know.

The rules differ depending on the type of game. In particular, traditional lotteries, raffles and lotteries must be organized in person. These games cannot be organized remotely, especially online.

The non-compliance conditions for the organization of gambling may lead to fine of €90,000 and 3 years in prison.

Lottery, raffle

A lottery or raffle is a game of chance in which the player, in return for a financial participation, tries his chance to get a win.

An association may organize a lottery if 3 conditions the following shall be complied with:

  • The lottery benefits are totally intended for scientific, social, family, humanitarian, philanthropic, educational, sporting or cultural causes or for animal protection or environmental protection, non-profit
  • The expected gain is made up of movable objects
  • The lottery is authorized by the mayor of the commune where the association's head office is located (by the police prefect, if the head office is in Paris).

Please note

The association organizing the lottery must have statutes that correspond to one of the criteria specified above (charitable act, encouragement of the arts...).)

The association must also ensure that the following points are respected:

  • She has to run the lottery herself and may not delegate this activity to third parties for commercial purposes, even in the form of the provision of services.
  • Lotteries must be conducted in face-to-face : online lotteries are totally prohibited.
  • Organization by for-profit (commercial) businesses, even with the participation of associations, is prohibited.

General scenario

The application for authorization must be made to the mayor of the municipality where the registered office of the association is located.

Who shall I contact

You must provide the following:

  • Form cerfa no. 11823
  • Statutes of the association (in case of first request)
  • Balance sheet for the last financial year if the share capital of the lottery (unit price of the ticket multiplied by the number of tickets issued) exceeds €7,500

If you do not receive a response from the administration within 2 months, you can consider that your request is rejected.

In Paris

The application for authorization must be made to from the police chief.

Who shall I contact

You also have the possibility to do so, online, via the platform for declaration and request for authorization of events:

Declaration and request for authorization of demonstrations

You must provide the following:

  • Form cerfa no. 11823
  • Statutes of the association (in case of first request)
  • Balance sheet for the last financial year if the share capital of the lottery (unit price of the ticket multiplied by the number of tickets issued) exceeds €7,500.

Where the share capital of the lottery exceeds €30,000, the mayor shall act after consulting the departmental or regional director of public finance.

In particular, the French public finances general directorate shall verify that:

  • The association justifies a certain seniority (no duration is fixed in the texts) and offers a guarantee of seriousness
  • The budget of the association is balanced and a significant part of the revenues is allocated to charitable actions, encouragement of the arts or the practice of sports activities
  • The amount of the share capital shall be commensurate with the actual needs created by the proposed action and with the possibilities of placing the notes
  • The lottery is exceptional and is not the main resource of the association to ensure its functioning
  • The amount of the organization costs, including the purchase of lots, does not exceed 15% share capital

The money raised must be used for scientific, social, family, humanitarian, philanthropic, educational, sporting or cultural reasons or for animal protection or environmental protection.

They shall not be used to pay for operating expenses, current expenses or to make up for a deficit due to mismanagement.

The actions financed should not be reserved for members only.

Please note

The precise allocation of the money collected must be described in the lottery authorization application form.

A non-profit association whose management is selfless is exempt from commercial taxes on the sums collected, for its exclusive benefit, during charitable or support events. This up to 6 events per year. 

Lotteries and raffles are part of tax-exempt charitable events. Amounts collected are exempt regardless of their amount. The exemption relates to business tax, TVA: titleContent and the territorial economic contribution (TEC).

As part of these 6 events, the association:

  • The application for exemption of the six charitable events is exempt. It remains obliged to request organizational authorizations in the event of permanent or temporary beverage outlets (declaration no later than 24 hours before the event by writing to the company tax office (SIE) of its head office)
  • Must send, if requested by the EIS, the financial result of the events (proof of revenue and expenditure)
Who shall I contact

Traditional Lotto

A traditional lottery is a game of chance where, in order to win, a participant must first fill in a card bearing several numbers, to which correspond lottery balls drawn by lot by an organizer.

An association can organize without authorization a traditional lottery if the 4 conditions the following shall be complied with:

  • The lottery is organized at non-profit for scientific, social, family, humanitarian, philanthropic, educational, sporting or cultural reasons or for the protection of animals or the environment
  • The lottery is organized in a inner circle (association members, relatives, friends). The repeated organization of lotteries in a room provided for this purpose is not considered a restricted circle. The same applies to the organization of a transport system to the place where the game takes place
  • The bets are of low value and less than €20
  • The batches offered to participants may not be sums of money, and are not refundable. However, this can be the issue of non-refundable vouchers. Market value in lots offered to participants is not limited.

The traditional lottery must be organized in person. It cannot be organized online or remotely, including via the internet or videoconference.

A traditional lottery organized online is not considered to be organized in a restricted circle when access to the game is open to the public on the internet. It is therefore forbidden.

If these conditions are not met, the lottery is prohibited.

A non-profit association whose management is selfless is exempt from commercial taxes on the sums collected, for its exclusive benefit, during charitable or support events. This up to 6 events per year. 

Lotteries and raffles are part of tax-exempt charitable events. Amounts collected are exempt regardless of their amount. The exemption relates to business tax, TVA: titleContent and the territorial economic contribution (TEC).

As part of these 6 events, the association:

  • The application for exemption of the six charitable events is exempt. It remains obliged to request organizational authorizations in the event of permanent or temporary beverage outlets (declaration no later than 24 hours before the event by writing to the company tax office (SIE) of its head office)
  • Must send, if requested by the EIS, the financial result of the events (proof of revenue and expenditure)
Who shall I contact

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