By Sadie Smith.
In the Dutch gambling market, this year means new debates regarding the increasing costs of regulation and tax. Government reports show that, after the tax hike, the gambling tax revenue from licensed operators dropped by an estimated €43.5 million in 2025. As of April 2026, online operators will have to pay increased costs in license application fees, therefore increasing the costs of regulation. The government has also increased regulation and control in illegal gambling, with record penalties given.
As we are 3 months into 2026, the debate surrounding the costs of the Netherlands regulated online gambling market has intensified. Operators, industry representatives, and the Kansaelautoriteit (KSA) have been in arguments over the impact of these costs on the health of the legal market. The regulator on this side has argued that it is designed to push and protect the consumers, while critics have argued that it diminishes the competitiveness of the market and drives consumers to the unlicensed offerings.
This article examines the findings in detail and outlines the implications for businesses and consumers in the face of the growing pressure surrounding the costs of licensing.
Rising Licence Fees Cause Concern
The Dutch government has announced that the costs of applying for and amending gambling licenses will rise effective April 1, 2026. Fees for remote gambling licenses are now set at €61,300, an increase from €48,000 (28% higher than the amounts published by the KSA). This means that operators will have to pay larger amounts of money before they have the opportunity to make a profit from the Netherlands’ newly regulated online gambling market.
However, discussions about the impact of the rising costs are taking place within a context; according to BonusZonderStorting.com, a Dutch website that monitors gaming offers and bonus conditions, some users are increasingly interested in unregulated offshore gambling sites. These sites offer gambling without regulation, and often have more attractive offers because they do not have to pay the market licenses and do not have to comply with the regulations that are required for the market to be controlled.
This situation shows the importance of rising regulatory costs, even though they are not easy to quantify. The associations representing operators mention that increased license fees will be costs on top of an already difficult financial load. This is in reference to advertising bans, player protection measures, self-exclusion, player deposit limits, and problem gambling measures. Some operators suggest that, with the added costs of compliance measures, the Dutch market becomes increasingly less attractive when compared to other regulated European markets.
Operators Struggle with Total Cost Burden
The Dutch gambling operators have expressed worries beyond the costs of obtaining a license. The Dutch gambling tax has been increased in stages over the last 2 years, and it is scheduled to continue increasing. The tax on gross gaming revenue has increased from 30.5% to 34.2% in 2025 and is expected to increase to 37.8% in 2026, according to the Ministry of Finance. Despite this, industry stakeholders have observed that tax contributions from the gambling sector have fallen by approximately €43.5 million in 2025 when compared to 2024.
The stakeholders in this situation have stated that the total gross gaming revenue from licensed online gambling operators went from roughly €322 million in 2024 to approximately €288 million in 2025. This decline has been linked to the increased tax burden by industry observers, and it has been attributed to the regulated market’s reduced competitiveness against unlicensed markets.
Numerous licensed operators must also purchase sophisticated responsible gaming systems, age verification, and anti-money laundering compliance systems. While these systems are supposed to protect players, they are costly and will continue to incur operational costs. For smaller operators, these financial obligations diminish the worth of their presence in the Dutch market and prevent them from expanding their operations.
Government Defends Fee Increases
Critics of the existing tax and fee systems state that they incentivize players to use illegal offshore sites, which provide no consumer protection, over legal and regulated sites. Even though regulated sites provide no consumer protection, the sites are not subject to the same costs as the legal sites, which allows them to give out larger bonuses and impose fewer restrictions.
Dutch regulators have defended the increase in fees by saying that it is the cost of the increased regulation. Regulators have stated that the costs are necessary to implement the regulations that provide consumer protection and anti-money laundering compliance. The Dutch Gaming Authority has stated that if they do not have increased funding, it will not have the resources to efficiently enforce the regulations. They also stated that they will permit licenses to be issued and will not regulate the operators for compliance with responsible gambling practices.
Officials claim that better-resourced regulators are capable of scaring off illegal gambling operations and protecting at-risk consumers. Statements made by directors indicate that ongoing enforcement and bank and payment processor collaborations are important components of this work.
Regardless of what they intend to achieve by increasing costs, industry bodies continue to call upon legislators to strike a regulatory budget equilibrium between funding regulation and keeping the licensed market financially viable, and these discussions are likely to continue throughout the remainder of 2026 and beyond in subsequent parliamentary sessions.
IMAGE CREDIT: bonuszonderstorting.com