Netherlands State Secretary defends differentiated tax
Senior Dutch politician Klaas Dijkhoff argues in favour of introducing a 20% tax rate for remote operators
Remote operators have won an initial victory in the dispute over differentiated tax rates in the Netherlands after a senior Dutch politician this week backed proposals to introduce a lower online levy.
In a memorandum of reply to a second round of questions regarding the Remote Gaming Act (RGA), State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff said that he considered an online rate higher than 20% as “unworkable”.
Dijkhoff said a rate closer or the same as the 29% currently levied on land-based gambling in the Netherlands would be too high to achieve desirable channelisation.
He stressed the need to keep costs to a minimum for remote operators, so they could suitably compete with offshore operators, and that a reduction of the 29% land-based levy was unlikely because of budgetary costs.
The news will be a blow to the land-based lobby which had campaigned against the differentiated tax rate.
The RGA will now be subject to plenary debates in the Dutch parliament, and gaming lawyer Justin Franssen from Dutch law firm Kalff Katz & Franssen said it is now up to MPs to follow Dijkhoff’s advice.
“One can only hope that the Members of Parliament follow the proposal for a tax rate of 20% which is clearly and solely motivated by the wish of maximum consumer protection and optimised channelisation,” Franssen said.
“This may or may not come at a price for the state coffers but if consumer protection in reality prevails over financial interests as the Social Democrats quite vocally seem to advocate this should not be a decisive factor. MPs will have to show their true colours in the debate to come,” he added.
A full plenary session on the bill is expected in the first quarter of next year, with implementation on track for 2017.