Two members of the Dutch Parliament have pushed for an amendment to the current tax structure in the Netherlands, including an increase in gambling tax.
Silvio Erkens and Chris Stoffer, the first signatory and co-signatory to the draft amendment, respectively, are pushing for a one per cent increase in gambling tax in response to the popularity rise of online gambling in the country.
“The popularity of online gambling has increased significantly in recent times,” the amendment reads. “This has also led to a significant increase in the turnover of online gambling companies.”
It is estimated that a gambling tax increase would result in operators paying an additional €26m to the state in duties.
The amendment noted that, initially, the gambling tax increase would only be applied to online gambling but, due to the tax “currently not differentiated with regard to different forms of gambling”, online gambling can’t be specifically targeted.
However, Erkens and Stoffer hope that this differentiation can be made by 2025, legislating an increase in tax for online gambling companies while reversing the increase for all other taxpayers.
Earlier this month, Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit noted that market growth in the country’s gambling industry appears to be levelling off despite gross gaming revenue increasing to €1.33bn for the period August 2022 to July 2023.
While GGR was up by 33 per cent year-over-year between August 2022 and January 2023, it had only improved by eight per cent YoY over the next six months.
