The Dutch government plans to legalise gambling as it seems many large gambling operators would like to have a share of the new, legalised Dutch market, but – on the gambling operators conditions. The current gambling tax tariff in the Netherlands is 29%, this needs to be lowered considerably, or these gambling companies may choose not to enter on the Dutch market – and as a consequence, illegal companies may jump into the void.
The tax tariff would need to come down to around 10% to make the Dutch market attractive. In Malta, for example, these companies pay only half a percent. If tariffs are too high, they will not start operations on the Dutch market while Dutch citizens will still find their way to them – or worse, illegal companies.
Yesterday (April 15 2013) NOS News spoke with Robin van Linschoten from the organisation to regulate online gambling in the Netherlands (STIOCH). He was asked why gambling operators are, in spite of all this, still interested in operating on the Dutch market when it will be regulated.
Van Linschoten: There are a large number of gambling companies that operate all over Europe, and especially in those countries where online gaming and betting has been regulated, and they are interested in obtaining a license.
— Why the Netherlands? Is it a growing market?
Van Linschoten: Yes, just as much as it is in all other markets. These companies choose not to be active in illegal circuits by simply launching internationally on the Internet, they choose to operate in countries that have tidy regulations, set rules and conditions, integrity, prevention of gambling addiction, money laundering is prevented and an effort to stop black money entering the circuit – the type of countries where these things have been arranged well – those are the countries that are of interest to these companies for the marketing of their products.
— And is the Netherlands sufficiently interesting to them?
Van Linschoten: Certainly. That becomes obvious if you look at how they react to the current developments.
— But what about the catches, like tax tariffs?
Van Linschoten: That will have to develop, as we don’t have any tariffs yet. At this time online gambling in the Netherlands has not yet been regulated, so this needs to be done first. The government is in talks of a new law concerning games of chance, and, of course, the tax laws that come along with it and in which the lottery and betting tax needs to be established – which at this moment we don’t know how much it will be. If we look at how things are now, it would come down at a tariff of around 10% of the gross game results. And to be honest, I expect the government will arrive at the same numbers as us and adopt them.
— And is that a tariff you can live with? I mean, what do they pay in other countries?
Van Linschoten: That varies a lot. There are countries in Europe, like Malta, where very little taxes are paid. In Belgium, our neighbour, they pay around 10%. In Denmark it is 20%.
— So that would be an acceptable tariff?
Van Linschoten: I think if you look at the current gambling tax tariff which is at 29%,
with a tax free threshold of €454. Now if you take off the tax-free threshold and go to a flat tariff then looking at the current gambling tax, it could come down to a tariff of 10%.
— But when they pay only half a percent in Malta, where they are active now, while currently serving the Dutch market (because as a Dutch gambler you can just gamble on the Internet with those companies) then why don’t they just stay there?
Van Linschoten: Simply because these are companies that have chosen to operate in a regulated setting in a legal market.
— And because they can advertise?
Van Linschoten: Yes that indeed is the important difference between the ones who will have a license and the ones who don’t – being able to deploy marketing activities. Which, at the same time, is very necessary to do, in order to push illegal suppliers off the market.
— Is there any thought about the behaviour of gamblers? For relief workers in the care and treatment of gambling addicts in the Netherlands are voicing these worries: that there needs to be thought about some kind of monitoring, that at least some boundaries for people can be set. For example, by setting a limit on wagering money – how do you see that?
Van Linschoten: Now that is one of the advantages of having a regulated market, because you can agree in an intelligent way with those companies what the conditions must be and in what manner you will organise prevention of and how you are going to deal with problematic behaviour and gambling addiction. And this can only be done in a regulated market. At this moment we are dealing with the situation in which there is no regulation at all, hence, no conditions or agreements about how you should deal with these problems.
— And maybe you will need to pay extra attention, because people at home are not being watched that much and there is not that much social control when someone sits behind a computer, alone at home.
Van Linschoten: That may seem so, but you have to realise very well that this probably is more visible online than in the physical world – on the internet everything is recorded and everything is known. You are not depending on, for example, casino employees, while the companies that offer these games know very well what the indicators are for persons who show problem behaviour. And indeed, they have a strategy to prevent that such behaviour will lead to greater problems or even gambling addiction.
Things are looking up for a regulated Dutch gambling market!
Original Audio in Dutch – http://nos.nl/audio/495740-belastingtarief-op-online-gokken-rond-de-10-procent.html