Dutch tax rate will cost "hundreds of jobs"

The decision to implement a dual tax rate for online and offline gambling products in the Netherlands could cost the machine gaming industry “hundreds of jobs”, a trade association for land based slot machines has warned.

The OF Slots Industry Organisation said it plans to issue state secretary of justice Fred Teeven with a petition signed by members of the land-based gaming industry later this week protesting against the country’s remote gambling bill and argue the split tax rate would create an “uneven playing field”.

The organisation has also questioned the feasibility of ensuring land-based operators adhere to same player registration and identification measures as online firms, stating it to be “not only unjust, but [will] also lead to an excessive investment burden”.

The protestations come following a decision taken in June to implement a dual tax rate in the soon-to-be regulated country – taxing online products at 20% of gross gaming revenue while keeping its levy for land-based gambling products at 29%.

And the dual rate was also questioned in a report published by the Dutch House of Representatives last week. The Standing Committee discussed several facets of the Netherlands’ draft remote gambling bill and raised a number of questions.

The Standing Committee cited opposition to the tax rate from numerous political parties as well as the Dutch advisory body the Council of State, and questioned whether it would meet the aims of achieving an 80% funnelling rate from unregulated to regulated activity.

“Is it a fair and appropriate approach to give aid to [online gambling]? Is neutrality of taxation not such an important principle?” the report stated.

Last month the Dutch regulator called upon egaming companies to register an official interest in applying for a Dutch licence before the end of the year as it looks to “get to know” operators targeting the proposed regulated market.