Holland Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that his coalition government has agreed to introduce a national-level regulatory framework for online gambling.
The prime minister said,
We will modernize gambling policy. Online gambling, sports betting, and poker events will be strictly regulated. This way we expect to prevent the offer of illegally operated games of chance in the Dutch market. Compliance with license conditions will be strictly enforced.
If the government implements its plans, gaming operators will have to pay 29% of their gross profits as tax.
In June, the Dutch Gaming Authority warned all those gaming operators, who fell under its category of illegal gaming operators, that they would be “actively excluded” from Netherlands new regulatory system.
These enforcement warnings were received by around 40 operators, and immediately half of them, including Ladbrokes, Bwin.party, and Unibet began taking steps to comply with the regulations. According to the warnings, complaint gambling companies stood a better chance of getting licenses when the country regulated its online gambling industry.
Bwin.party was especially eager to comply because, owing to its failure to do so when Belgium issued a similar warning, it had been refused a Belgian gaming license.
Mark Rutte and his Liberal VVD Party had been advocating the legalizing of online gaming in the Netherlands for a long time, and this time Rutte even got the support of Labour PvdA, his coalition party.
According to the coalition agreement, the state-owned Holland Casino, which comprises 14 land casinos, will be privatized. This company generates annual gambling revenue of 250 million Euros for the government of Netherlands.
Holland is the European Union’s fifth largest economy and has a population of more than 16 million. Although considered to be one of the strongest EU nations economically, it has a number of financial problems. The country’s real estate industry is now back to the same place where it was 8 years ago, and although the country’s government debt is 82% of the GDP and is much lower than the European average, its private debt is 260% of the GDP.
Owing to its economic weakness, the Dutch government has no other option left, but to generate revenue by legalizing, regulating, and taxing its online gaming industry. Industry analysts feel that it has made a wise move by deciding to tax gross profits and not wagers. This means that online poker in Holland will be more successful that it could be in Italy and France.
