Netherlands

The Remote Gambling Act (Wet kansspelen op afstand, Koa) entered into force on 1 April 2021, and the licensed online market opened on 1 October 2021 with ten licence holders; there were 31 in June 2026, 28 of them active. The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) issues the licences and enforces the rules. Any operator that meets the integrity, technical and player-protection requirements may apply, and licences run for up to five years, but the conduct rules are strict: every licensee must check the CRUKS self-exclusion register, players set their limits when they register, operators must check affordability above set monthly net deposits, and untargeted advertising has been banned since 1 July 2023. Online gambling is taxed at 37.8% of gross gaming revenue since 1 January 2026. On 12 June 2026 the cabinet set out a revision of the Koa that would ban online gambling advertising and bonuses and introduce a cross-operator deposit limit; it expects to consult on the bill in 2027.

Market design under Koa

The Koa opened the market on 1 October 2021 on an open-access basis: any operator that meets the integrity, technical and player-protection requirements may apply, there is no cap on the number of licences, and each licence runs for up to five years and cannot be transferred. Applicants must have their seat, central administration or principal place of business in the EU or EEA, and the KSA grants one licence per applicant, under which an operator may run several brands but only one player account per player. The KSA granted ten licences on 29 September 2021; in June 2026 there were 31 licence holders, 28 of them active. Legal online gross gaming revenue was EUR 1.20 billion in 2025, 21% less than in 2024 after inflation, and EUR 670 million in the first half of 2026, about EUR 110 million a month and some 11% more than in the second half of 2025, with casino games against the house making up 73% and sports betting 24%. The June 2026 plan also commissions a study, due in the first half of 2027, on whether limiting the number of licences would improve player protection.

The rising tax trajectory

Gaming tax (kansspelbelasting) is charged on gross gaming revenue and rose from 30.5% to 34.2% on 1 January 2025 and to 37.8% on 1 January 2026. Licensees also pay an annual gambling levy (kansspelheffing) of 1.95% of gross gaming revenue, of which 1.7% funds the KSA and 0.25% addiction prevention. The increases were meant to raise EUR 108 million more in 2025 and EUR 216 million more in 2026. A Ministry of Finance and KSA monitor published on 23 June 2026 estimated that receipts rose by only EUR 2 million in 2025 and forecast EUR 57 million for 2026, both against 2024, because the tax base shrank: player-protection rules lowered operators' gross gaming revenue, and the rate rise itself may have reduced it, for example through closures of land-based venues. The monitor also found lower receipts from state-owned operators and could not isolate the rate rise's effect on market size or channelisation.

Channelisation: players versus money

The KSA measures channelisation, the share of play with licensed operators, in two ways, and both are estimates: the player figure comes from a panel of about 6,000 people whose devices run monitoring software, only about 300 of whom gamble online, and the money figure from search volumes for gambling sites. By players it is high. In the first half of 2026 about 94% of Dutch online gamblers played only with licensed sites, or 97% if people who use both legal and illegal sites are counted as channelled, which the KSA describes as unchanged; its April 2026 report had put the second half of 2025 at 91% and 95%. By money it is much lower. The KSA's autumn 2025 report put it at 49% for the first half of 2025; in April 2026 the KSA removed three operators whose search volumes it suspected had been manipulated, which revised that period to 56%, and estimated 53% for the second half of 2025. Its October 2026 report put the first half of 2026 at 59%, against an average of 54% for the half-year before, and found no sign that tighter rules had lowered channelisation. The KSA reads the gap between the two measures as a sign that people who play illegally lose far more per head.

Player protection and acquisition

Operators must check CRUKS before anyone plays, admit only players aged 18 or over, and have each player set limits at registration. Since 1 October 2024 a player who wants a deposit limit above EUR 350 a month (EUR 150 for under-24s) must first contact the operator, and operators must check affordability once a player's net deposits pass EUR 700 in a calendar month (EUR 300 for 18-to-23-year-olds). The KSA reports that more players now spread their play across several accounts, possibly to stay under these per-account limits. Since 1 July 2023 untargeted advertising has been banned on television, radio, in print and in public places, and sponsorship of television programmes and events ended on 1 July 2024; online, direct and social-media advertising remains allowed under strict conditions meant to keep it away from minors, young adults and other vulnerable groups.

The June 2026 reform plan

On 12 June 2026 the state secretary for Justice and Security set out the contours of a revised Koa. It would ban advertising for online gambling, including bonuses such as free bets on sign-up, with exceptions limited to an operator's own website and results for explicit searches for gambling sites; introduce a cross-operator deposit limit recorded in a central register run by the KSA, which a player could exceed only after an affordability test covering guardianship, registered payment arrears and income; make voluntary CRUKS registration open-ended, with twelve months before it can be ended; and give the KSA its own power to suspend licences. The cabinet dropped, for now, the plan announced in February 2025 to raise the minimum age to 21 for the riskiest games, citing the risk of pushing young adults to illegal sites. It had aimed to consult on the bill by the end of 2026 and now expects to do so in 2027.

Enforcement and unlicensed market

The KSA enforces against unlicensed sites and the businesses that support them. In October 2026 it fined EOD Code EUR 37 million, its highest fine yet for unlicensed supply, and the June 2026 plan adds powers to block illegal websites and clearer legal duties for payment providers, hosting firms and other parties that facilitate illegal gambling. In the licensed market the KSA uses warnings, orders and fines for breaches of the advertising rules and the duty of care, and since 1 January 2026 its licensing policy rules require applicants to file an exit plan for repaying player funds and an anti-money-laundering risk analysis.

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