Increase in Dutch tax rate would be "devastating"
Director of Dutch remote gaming association warns against increased rate after Dutch minister leaves door open for change
An increase in the proposed tax rate for the soon-to-be regulated Netherlands egaming market would be “devastating”, the director of Dutch remote gaming association Speel Verantwoord has warned after a key Dutch politician hinted at a potential tax hike.
Last week, in a speech to the Euromat Gaming Summit in Amsterdam, the new State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff appeared to leave the door open for a change in the online levy, saying it would “no doubt be hotly debated in parliament”.
The proposed rate of 20% for egaming operators has caused controversy and a formal complaint has been lodged by land-based association Euromat because it is lower than the 29% levied against land-based casinos.
But Rutger-Jan Hebben from Speel Verantwoord says that any increase could have a major impact on the future of egaming in the country.
“Any tax rate above 20% will have a devastating effect on the regulation of the Dutch market,” Hebben told eGaming Review. “That is something we have seen elsewhere in Europe. It will have a big effect on how the regulated environment will develop.”
Hebben said he expected the complaint made by Euromat to the European Commission would be dismissed after a similar complaint from Denmark over differentiated tax rates was dismissed last year.
“It is strange to lodge a complaint against something which has yet to be adopted,” Hebben said. “I think the European Commission will say come back when the law has been adopted,” he added.
Dijkhoff has previously spoken in support of regulation, arguing that the issue is “especially important for the government”, and has revealed a series of concessions to the land-based industry in an attempt to soften the blow, including the planned privatisation of Holland Casino.
The process towards regulation is due to progress tomorrow with a procedural meeting. If any questions from the meeting can be answered by the ministry by the end of the summer recess, then a plenary debate on the bill could take place this autumn, the full implementation pencilled in for April 2017 at the earliest.