Will Dutch online gambling be legalised by 2018?

Reports from the Netherlands indicate that progress toward online gambling legalisation, already agonisingly slow over the past few years, is again being held up by political questions raised in the Senate last week.

The relevant legislative draft was submitted to parliament in June this year after repeated delays, and later passed the Lower House (see previous reports) before being advanced to the Senate, where it awaits a vote.

However, the questions raised last week will have to be addressed before that and involve queries on the likelihood that the legalisation process will channel the estimated 80 percent of local players to Dutch-regulated websites, and the exclusion of online lottery sales from the provisions of the draft bill.

The Senate has no powers of amendment on the bill and must vote yeay or nay, hopefully before March next year. Regulatory processes and implementation will likely take the effective legalisation of online gambling into early 2018.

The heavy taxation in the bill appears to remain unchanged at 29 percent of GGR to ensure it aligns with taxes imposed on land gambling operators.