Dutch Government’s Gambling Tax Backfires

According to nan Netherlands Gambling Authority, aliases KSA, nan gambling taxation hike implemented connected nan first time of this twelvemonth has not been having nan effect nan Dutch authorities was hoping for. Back connected January 1, nan authorities of nan Netherlands hiked nan taxation connected gambling from 30.5 per cent to 34.2 per cent pinch nan volition to boost authorities revenue. However, nan scheme has gone somewhat sideways for Dutch officials.

The Dutch authorities implemented these taxes pinch nan circumstantial volition to summation gross by an estimated €202 cardinal by nan twelvemonth 2028. Indeed, a further summation of nan taxes is scheduled for nan opening of 2026, astatine which nan complaint will climb to 37.8 per cent. But according to caller data, nan gross gambling gross of nan Netherlands, aliases GGR, dropped by a whopping 25 per cent during nan first six months of 2025. In nan past 5 years, nan number of casinos has been steadily declining, by an mean of 6 per cent per year. The number of beingness casino establishments besides diminished by 9 per cent successful nan first 4th of this year.

At this rate, newly-merged gambling manufacture group VNLOCK estimates that nan authorities will really gain less from nan taxation gross than it did successful 2024 – only 83 per cent of past year’s totals.

Additionally, nan KSA had already noted during nan aforesaid play of past twelvemonth that nan GGR had fallen by 10 per cent, earlier nan taxation hike had ever taken place. This was owed to stricter depositing limits, but fixed nan sharper diminution during 2025, Dutch authorities are officially worried that nan effort is counterproductive.

Gamblers successful nan Netherlands, dealt a bad hand

VNLOK is concerned that these aforementioned factors, arsenic good arsenic nan upcoming prohibition connected gambling sponsorships, taking effect successful July of 2026, will only push gamblers to unlicensed gambling sites, arsenic nan operators successful nan ineligible gambling establishments whitethorn beryllium passing nan taxation load onto nan gamblers themselves. With stricter restrictions, gambling houses must return much utmost measures to support their profitability.

Additionally, problem gamblers, aliases those pinch gambling addictions, cannot easy break distant from a habitual gambling problem; alternatively than extremity altogether, they are much apt to find cheaper and often forbidden alternatives, driven by nan sunk-cost fallacy aliases nan threat of accumulated indebtedness already caused by gambling frequently.

The Netherlands is not nan only state facing this issue. Other European countries, specified arsenic Sweden and France, person experimented pinch expanding gambling taxes successful caller years. In summation to these, nan UK is toying pinch nan thought of effecting a taxation connected equine title gambling, which experts pass whitethorn devastate nan sector.