Trade body calls for Dutch gambling tax decrease

Trade body Van Kansspelen Branche-organisatie has called to get the temporary Dutch gambling tax to be reversed no later than 2020.

Netherlands.- Dutch trade body Van Kansspelen Branche-organisatie has called to reverse a temporary gambling tax increase. Chairman Frits Huffnagel has urged the government to do so and put January 1, 2020 as the deadline.

The Netherlands revealed an €11billion budget surplus for 2018 and triggered the body’s claim. It came after an increase of gross gaming revenue was introduced in July, from 29% to 30.1%.

“This unfair tax increase was not necessary to ensure central government could balance the books,” they added, due to the surplus. Licences won’t be awarded until mid-2020, which is why the trade body says there’s no reason not to reverse the tax raise “as quickly as possible, but no later than January 1, 2020.”

The temporary increase is scheduled to be reversed in 2021, just six months after the Netherlands’ Remote Gaming Act comes into force. “It was already unreasonable and unfair, and it now appears to be unnecessary,” Huffnagel added.

“Providers have been paying for two years for political dawdling and the premature behaviour of the State Secretary for Finance. It is now a natural moment to reverse the increase. By doing this, providers will also have the necessary financial headroom to meet the strict new requirements.”