NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alan Littler, Justin Franssen and Chris Adriaansz, Franssen Tolboom
11.2 Sanctions Sanctions can effectively be enforced against: • legal entities based in the Netherlands; • foreign legal entities with assets in the Netherlands; and • employees or contractors carrying out work in the Netherlands. Enforcement of administrative sanctions can take place without a court order. Enforcement against operators and persons established abroad ‒ or per- sons passing through the Netherlands – is more dif- ficult, as no general international law instrument exists for the cross-border enforcement of administrative sanctions. 11.3 Financial Penalties Financial penalties can be enforced by the NGA on the basis of administrative law, without a court order. As noted in 11.2 Sanctions , the cross-border enforce- ment of administrative sanctions (including financial penalties) is more difficult. If a foreign entity is unwill- ing to pay, the NGA will hand financial penalties over to a bailiff/debt collection agency in order to pres- surise operators to pay. The NGA will also publish the refusal to pay on its website. Currently, licensed games of chance are taxed at a rate of 34.2%. The rate increased by 3.7% on 1 Janu- ary 2025. It is the operator that is regarded as the tax subject under the BGTA, not the player. In September 2024, the Dutch cabinet presented a new Tax Plan, which passed Parliament in November 2025. The Tax Plan includes an increase of the tax rate (for all sectors) from 34.2% to 37.8% from 1 January 2026. 12. Tax 12.1 Tax Rate by Sector At the time of publication of this guide, yearly budg- etary discussions in parliament are still ongoing. In theory these discussions could lead to a halt on the planned tax increase for 2026, but there are no indica- tions to that effect.
theless, it is unclear at the time of publication of this guide what shape the new process will take on. 10.3 Passive Investor Requirements Passive investors may need to be disclosed to the NGA during the licence application or thereafter. For remote gambling licences and land-based licence holders, different thresholds apply. Notification requirements also depend on the specific rights pas- sive investors obtain in relation to their investment (eg, profit-sharing or interest). As indicated in 3.6 Penalties for Unlawful Gambling , enforcement takes place primarily via administrative law. Prior to regulatory changes on 1 April 2021, the NGA generally issued administrative fines against operators and cease-and-desist orders against affili- ates. There have also been instances in which the NGA has attempted to take action via the Nether- lands Domain Registration Foundation ( Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland (SIDN), which is the entity responsible for managing the registration of.nl domain names) to ensure that content relating to unlicensed remote gambling offers was no longer available in the Netherlands. 11. Enforcement 11.1 Powers As noted in 3.5 Key Offences , the scope of the ban on promoting games of chance was expanded following the entry into force of the amended BGA. Currently, the NGA is able to use its enforcement capabilities against PSPs and other intermediaries. One of the relatively new enforcement measures for the NGA is the binding instruction. Binding instructions allow the NGA to demand that entities cease certain activities, including providing payment or advertising services to locally unlicensed operators. Following an amendment to the remote gambling bill in 2016, this binding instruction cannot be used against ISPs. Another instrument is the public warning, which essen- tially boils down to naming and shaming. As of 1 April 2021, the NGA is able to undertake mystery shopping exercises, which was previously not the case.
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