Netherlands

The Remote Gambling Act (Wet kansspelen op afstand, the 'KOA Act') entered into force on 1 April 2021, and the licensed online market went live on 1 October 2021 when the first operators launched. Licences are issued and enforced by the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). The regime combines relatively open market access with strict responsible-gambling and advertising rules, including the CRUKS central self-exclusion register that every licensee must check, mandatory deposit and intervention limits, and a ban on untargeted advertising. Gambling is taxed under the kansspelbelasting on gross gaming revenue, a rate that has been rising sharply.

Market design under KOA

The KOA Act, in force since 1 April 2021, opened a licensed online market on 1 October 2021 on a comparatively open-access basis: any operator meeting integrity, technical and player-protection standards may apply, and licences run for up to five years. This is not a numerical cap or a monopoly model. The trade-off is stringent conduct obligations attached to each licence - real-time register checks, duty-of-care monitoring and advertising limits - so the barrier to entry lies less in scarcity of permits than in the ongoing cost of compliance. Around ten licences existed at launch, rising past thirty by late 2025.

The rising tax trajectory

Gaming tax (kansspelbelasting) is levied on gross gaming revenue and has climbed steeply: 30.5%, then 34.2% from 1 January 2025, and 37.8% from 1 January 2026. A separate levy (kansspelheffing) of roughly 1.95% of GGR funds the regulator. Despite sustained industry and parliamentary lobbying, the 2026 increase took effect as legislated. Because the charge falls on margin rather than turnover, its weight varies with product mix and payout ratios, and operators have limited scope to absorb it without adjusting bonusing, game economics or market presence.

Channelisation and revenue gap

The central policy tension is that higher rates have not produced proportionate revenue. Treasury projections for the increase were substantially undershot in 2025, while the regulator reported channelisation - the share of play with licensed operators - slipping below 50% by GGR in the first half of 2025, from around 51% at end-2024. These figures are contested and measurement-dependent: channelisation counted by registered player numbers remained far higher, near 94%. The gap between healthy registration and leaking expenditure keeps a rate review on the political agenda.

Player protection and acquisition

Player-protection duties reshape both product and acquisition. Operators must check the CRUKS central self-exclusion register before allowing play, apply mandatory deposit and intervention limits, and observe a minimum age of 18, with 21 proposed for higher-risk games. Since 1 July 2023 untargeted advertising has been banned across television, radio, print and public spaces, while narrower online and direct channels are retained under conditions. Cross-operator spending-limit reforms remain under discussion. Together these constrain mass-market brand-building and shift acquisition toward permitted, consent-based and lower-visibility channels.

Enforcement and unlicensed market

Enforcement centres on the licensed perimeter and the offshore market beyond it. The regulator pursues unlicensed supply and prohibited promotion, yet the sub-50% GGR channelisation reading indicates a growing share of expenditure reaching operators outside its remit. Officials have linked part of this drift to players seeking to avoid deposit limits and other restrictions, framing enforcement and player-protection design as interconnected rather than separate levers. The open question for diligence is whether tightening rules and rising tax raise protection standards faster than they push spending offshore.

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