Fine Calculator for EU AI Act

How Much Could an Article 50 Violation Cost You?

Article 99(4)(g) of the EU AI Act sets the penalty for Article 50 violations: €15,000,000 or 3% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher.

Let's calculate what this actually means for companies of different sizes.

The Penalty Formula

The authority takes the HIGHER of:

• €15,000,000, OR
• 3% of your last complete financial year's worldwide turnover

For most companies, 3% of turnover is less than €15M, so the percentage rule applies. Only companies with turnover above €500M hit the €15M cap.

Example Calculations by Company Size

Company Size

Annual Turnover

3% of Turnover

Effective Penalty

Solo SaaS founder	€100,000	€3,000	€3,000
Startup (10 employees)	€2,000,000	€60,000	€60,000
SME (50 employees)	€10,000,000	€300,000	€300,000
Mid-market (200 employees)	€50,000,000	€1,500,000	€1,500,000
Large company (1,000 employees)	€200,000,000	€6,000,000	€6,000,000
Enterprise (5,000+ employees)	€500,000,000	€15,000,000	€15,000,000
Global tech giant	€5,000,000,000	€150,000,000	€15,000,000 (capped)

Key insight: For companies between €100K and €500M in annual turnover, the penalty is exactly 3% of your revenue. The €15M cap only benefits the very largest companies.

How "Global Turnover" Is Defined

• Global: Your worldwide revenue, not just EU revenue. If you sell globally, your penalty is based on total revenue — even if only 5% of your customers are in the EU.
• Preceding financial year: The 12-month fiscal period that ended before the violation. If your fiscal year is January-December, a violation in August 2026 would use your 2025 turnover.
• Whichever is higher: The authority always picks the larger number. You cannot voluntarily pay the lower one.

Per-Violation Stacking

The AI Act doesn't explicitly prevent per-violation stacking. If you have three separate AI features with three separate Article 50 violations, enforcement authorities could theoretically issue three separate penalties. In practice, first-time enforcement is likely to consolidate violations into a single penalty, but the law allows for stacking.

What Triggers a Fine

Fines don't come automatically. The typical path:

1. Complaint — A user, competitor, journalist, or NGO files a complaint with a national market surveillance authority

2. Investigation — The authority reviews your AI systems, disclosure practices, and documentation

3. Notice to comply — First offense usually gets a compliance notice (30-90 day deadline) rather than an immediate fine

4. Penalty — If you ignore the notice or the violation is serious, the penalty is applied

The fine is NOT automatic. But the investigation IS mandatory — authorities must investigate complaints.

Cost of Compliance vs. Cost of Non-Compliance

Scenario

Cost

Time

Generate disclosure with our tool	Free	30 seconds
Hire a privacy lawyer	€500-2,000	2-4 weeks
Potential fine (small company, €500K revenue)	€15,000	N/A
Potential fine (mid-size, €10M revenue)	€300,000	N/A

The cost of compliance is essentially zero with our [free generator](/generate). The cost of non-compliance starts at €3,000 for the smallest companies and scales with revenue.

How to Eliminate Your Penalty Risk

1. Generate your disclosure text with our [Article 50 generator](/generate) — free, 30 seconds

2. Publish the HTML widget to your website

3. Download the PDF report for your compliance records

If an authority investigates, show them the PDF. That's your compliance evidence.

CTA: Calculate and Eliminate Your Risk

Our [Article 50 generator](/generate) produces compliant text, widget, and PDF in 30 seconds. The penalty for non-compliance scales with your revenue. Compliance scales with zero.

[Generate My Disclosure Now →](/generate)

*This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified legal professional for your specific compliance needs.*