A new report suggests that tax increases in the Netherlands have failed to increase government revenue as intended, instead contributing to a €200m loss compared to 2024 figures. Earlier this year, the rate of gambling tax for operators in the regulated Dutch market increased from 30.5% to 34.2% in the first stage of a phased two-tier increase.
This will rise further on 1 January 2026, when operators’ gross gaming revenue (GGR) will be taxed at a rate of 37.8%.
The tax increase has been met with controversy by operators, with LiveScore Bet pulling out of the country altogether in December 2024.
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) is expected to announce it has seen a steep decline in tax revenue for the first half of the year, as per Dutch publication Financieele Dagblad.
The Netherlands-facing financial newspaper has claimed it has seen data from industry association the Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers (VNLOK) that shows GGR for H1 2025 has fallen by 25%.
In turn, the report claims the KSA’s tax revenue stands at just 83% of what it was in the corresponding period last year.
Last September, when the tax hike was approved, the Netherlands Ministry of Finance detailed that it anticipated to generate an additional €200m annually between 2025 and 2028.
However, a KSA spokesperson has since confirmed to Financieele Dagblad that it expects to fall well short of that €200m target.
Across the entirety of 2024, the regulated Dutch market generated a record €1bn in tax revenue. Using the expected new figures reported for full-year 2025 projections, that total is expected to come to €800m.
The newspaper report also notes that VNLOK chairman Bjorn Fuchs has bemoaned the string of regulatory measures that the KSA has implemented in recent months as a factor in the legal market’s decline.
Within the last 12 months, the Dutch regulator has enforced a ban on untargeted advertising and sports sponsorships, as well as the introduction of monthly deposit limits, while speculation surrounding an online slots ban continues.
Fuchs believes that such developments have made the legal market less attractive for players, many of whom are now migrating to engage with offshore operators.
The tax hike was also addressed by the VNLOK chair, who told the Financieele Dagblad: “To still make the business case viable, providers have no choice but to adjust payout rates and reduce bonuses.”
A study from the KSA released earlier this year determined that while the overwhelming majority of Dutch players use licensed operators, 50% of the revenue generated from online gambling in the country is going towards black market outfits.
Another Dutch gaming trade body in Brancheorganisatie VAN Kansspelen took to LinkedIn today, 4 August, to note that these latest findings from Financieele Dagblad reaffirm its stance that the tax increase was “doubly unwise”.
“Dozens of regulated offline physical casinos have already had to close their doors and legal online is also under pressure,” it wrote. “At the same time, the illegal supply is increasing, with all the problems and social costs that entails. The Gaming Authority as a regulator previously sounded the alarm and is expected to publish a report tomorrow.
“The increase was and is therefore doubly unwise – and would be so with a further step to 37.8% squared.”
It added: “[The] increase is ineffective, inefficient and even completely counterproductive, both in terms of the budget and with regard to gambling policy objectives.”
Last month, Teun Struycken, the Dutch minister responsible for gambling, stressed the need for a “coordinated European approach” to thwart the threat of black market activity while addressing EU justice ministers.
The post Report: Dutch tax hike fails to inspire €200m revenue boost first appeared on EGR Intel.
A KSA spokesperson has conceded the regulator will fail to reach the revenue target it set after announcing the phased tax hike last year
The post Report: Dutch tax hike fails to inspire €200m revenue boost first appeared on EGR Intel.