EU AI Act fine calculator
The EU AI Act backs its rules with fines that scale to company size. Each violation tier sets both a fixed cap in euros and a percentage of your worldwide turnover, and the maximum is the higher of the two. Enter your global annual turnover and the violation type to see the applicable maximum, which leg of the rule binds, the exact article it comes from, and what the number means against your revenue. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Read the full breakdown: the real maximum EU AI Act fine for an SME
Total worldwide turnover for the preceding financial year, in euros. Shorthand works: type 50m or 1.2bn.
Each tier has its own cap and percentage.
Lower the exposure with continuous compliance
A fine is the downside of leaving obligations untracked. The high-risk regime (Articles 9, 17, 72, 73) expects a living risk-management system, a quality management system, and ongoing monitoring, not a one-off form. Continuous-compliance platforms such as Vanta and Scrut Automation now ship AI-governance modules that map controls to the AI Act and keep the evidence current, which is far less work than tracking it by hand.
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Informational estimate of the statutory maximum based on Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, not legal advice. Actual fines are set case by case by national authorities under Article 99, which weighs gravity, duration, cooperation, and other factors, and they are often well below the maximum. Confirm your exposure with qualified counsel.
Every fine tier in one table
The penalty regime lives in Article 99 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, with separate rules for general-purpose AI model providers in Article 101. For each category the fine is up to the fixed amount or up to the percentage of total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is higher.
| Violation | Fixed cap | % of turnover | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prohibited AI practices (Article 5) | EUR 35,000,000 | 7% | Article 99(3) |
| Non-compliance with other obligations (incl. high-risk) | EUR 15,000,000 | 3% | Article 99(4) |
| Incorrect, incomplete, or misleading info to authorities | EUR 7,500,000 | 1% | Article 99(5) |
| GPAI model provider duties (separate track) | EUR 15,000,000 | 3% | Article 101 |
The higher-of rule, and why size matters
For most companies the percentage leg is what bites. A 7% fine on a firm with 500 million EUR in turnover is 35 million EUR, which equals the fixed cap. Above that turnover the percentage overtakes the cap, so the larger the company, the larger the ceiling. The fixed cap is what protects smaller firms from a percentage that would be trivial in absolute terms.
The SME and start-up exception (Article 99(6))
There is a deliberate carve-out that is easy to miss. For SMEs and start-ups, each fine is capped at the lower of the fixed amount and the percentage, not the higher. So a small company that triggers a prohibited-practice fine is capped by 7% of its turnover rather than the 35 million EUR headline. The calculator above flips to this rule when you tick the SME box.
How authorities actually set the number
The figures here are statutory maximums, not the expected fine. Article 99(7) lists what a national authority weighs when it decides the amount: the nature, gravity, and duration of the infringement, whether other authorities have already fined the same operator for the same conduct, the size and market share of the operator, and whether the operator cooperated and reported the issue. Many fines land well below the ceiling. Treat the result as exposure, not a prediction.
What this is, and is not
This calculator mirrors the structure of Article 99 so you can size the downside of a given violation against your own revenue. It is informational, not legal advice, and it does not assess whether a particular system actually breaches the Act. To work out which tier your system falls into in the first place, start with the EU AI Act risk classifier, then come back here to put a number on the exposure. For a binding view, confirm with qualified counsel.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the AI Act), Articles 99 and 101.
- European Commission, AI Act policy and timeline page: digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu.
EU AI Act penalty questions, answered
What are the penalties for violating the EU AI Act?
Article 99 sets three tiers, each the higher of a fixed cap or a percentage of worldwide annual turnover: prohibited AI practices up to EUR 35,000,000 or 7%; non-compliance with other obligations (including high-risk) up to EUR 15,000,000 or 3%; and supplying incorrect or misleading information to authorities up to EUR 7,500,000 or 1%. General-purpose AI model providers face a separate track under Article 101 (up to EUR 15,000,000 or 3%).
What is the maximum EU AI Act penalty for enterprises?
For a large company the percentage leg is what bites, because it is the higher of the cap or the percentage. A 7% fine on a firm with EUR 500 million in turnover is EUR 35 million, equal to the fixed cap; above that turnover the percentage overtakes the cap, so there is effectively no upper euro limit for the largest firms. The calculator shows which leg binds for your revenue.
Is there a lower cap for SMEs and start-ups?
Yes. Under Article 99(6), for SMEs and start-ups each fine is capped at the lower of the fixed amount and the percentage, not the higher. So a small company that triggers a prohibited-practice fine is limited by 7% of its turnover rather than the EUR 35 million headline. Tick the SME box in the calculator to apply this rule.
How will the EU AI Act be enforced?
National market-surveillance authorities in each member state set the actual fine, weighing the factors in Article 99(7): the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement, prior fines for the same conduct, the size and market share of the operator, and cooperation. The figures here are statutory maximums (exposure), not predictions, and many fines land well below the ceiling.
The data-story behind this tool
The real maximum EU AI Act fine for an SME is not 35 million euroFor a 50-person SaaS at 10M euro turnover, the real maximum EU AI Act fine is about 700,000 euro, not the 35 million you keep seeing quoted. Article 99(6) is why.
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