🇳🇱Netherlands Gambling Licence: Requirements, Costs and Tax

The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) charges a single application fee for a remote gambling (KOA) licence and no annual licence fee. Instead, licensees pay the gambling levy on gross gaming revenue described under taxation.

• Application fee: €61,300, payable when the application is submitted and not refunded if the licence is refused.
• Financial security: a €50,000 guarantee is required as part of the application.
• Annual fee: none. Supervision is funded by the 1.95 per cent gambling levy.

Budget separately for the mandatory connections to the CRUKS self-exclusion register and the control database (CDB), the responsible-gambling representative in the Netherlands and the accredited testing of the gaming system.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Ksa: costs and general requirements of an application · Ksa: questions and answers on the remote gambling licence

Dutch online operators pay two revenue-based charges.

• Gambling tax (kansspelbelasting): 37.8 per cent of gross gaming revenue from 1 January 2026, under article 5 of the Gambling Tax Act. The rate was 34.2 per cent in 2025 and 30.5 per cent in 2024.
• Gambling levy (kansspelheffing): 1.95 per cent of gross gaming revenue, split into 0.25 per cent for the addiction prevention fund and 1.70 per cent for the Ksa.

Both are calculated on stakes less prizes paid and are paid by the licence holder, monthly for the tax. Corporate income tax applies to profits on top.

Live dealer studios and B2B suppliers. The Ksa licenses operators only. Studios and game suppliers are not licensed or taxed separately in the Netherlands, but the operator is responsible for every game it offers, including certification of the supplier’s systems by an accredited body.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Wet op de kansspelbelasting, article 5 (rate) · Ksa: gambling levy for online providers

The Ksa has a statutory decision period of six months for a complete remote gambling licence application. If the Ksa asks for additional information the applicant has up to six weeks to supply it and the clock stops meanwhile, so an application with gaps takes longer than six months.

Before submitting, operators must have the gaming system tested by an accredited body, the CRUKS and CDB connections ready and the integrity (Bibob) questionnaire complete. Those preparations are usually the larger part of the timeline.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Ksa: questions and answers on the remote gambling licence

An applicant for a remote gambling (KOA) licence must be a company established in the EU or EEA, and the Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) assesses it under the 2026 licensing policy rules (BVRKOA 2026) that apply to applications from 1 January 2026.

• Integrity: a full reliability assessment of the applicant, its policy-makers and ultimate beneficial owners under the Gambling Act and the Bibob Act. An applicant that has ignored enforceable Dutch court judgments can be refused on that ground alone.
• Policies filed with the application: integrity policy, a Wwft (anti-money-laundering) risk analysis, addiction-prevention policy, advertising policy, internal supervision arrangements, an exit plan for the control database, and Dutch-language player terms.
• Technical: the whole gaming system is inspected against the Ksa conformity scheme by an accredited body, the control database (CDB) is built to the Ksa specification and passes an integration test, and the CRUKS self-exclusion connection is certified before the licence is granted.
• Financial: €50,000 financial security (bank guarantee or equivalent), a continuity declaration and evidence of financial soundness.
• Local presence: a representative for addiction prevention based in the Netherlands.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Ksa licensing policy rules for remote gambling 2026 (BVRKOA 2026) · Ksa: new policy rules from 1 January 2026 · Ksa: questions and answers on the remote gambling licence

Licences run for up to five years and are renewed by a fresh application in which addiction prevention, advertising policy and the control database are reassessed. In between, the Ksa supervises through the CDB and a strict duty of care.

• Control database: all play, transaction and player data flow to the operator’s CDB in the Netherlands, to which the Ksa and the tax authority have independent access. Malfunctions must be reported within 72 hours and data retained for at least 12 months.
• CRUKS: checked at every registration and login, and again before marketing.
• Duty of care: since October 2024 operators must make personal contact before accepting a monthly deposit limit of €350 or more (€150 for players under 24) and block deposits above €700 a month (€300 for young adults) unless affordability is shown, and detect risky play within an hour.
• Advertising: untargeted advertising has been banned since 1 July 2023 and sports sponsorship since 1 July 2025, no bonuses or advertising to 18 to 24 year olds, and complaints must be registered and acknowledged within 72 hours.
• Tax and levy: monthly gambling tax returns and the 1.95 per cent Ksa levy on GGR.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Ksa control database specification · Remote Gambling Regulation (Regeling kansspelen op afstand) · Ksa: gambling levy for online providers

The Netherlands does not require a Dutch company: the licensee must be established in the EU or EEA, so Malta-based operators hold Dutch licences directly. What must be in the Netherlands is the control database (hosted on Dutch territory) and the addiction-prevention representative. An operator that does incorporate locally uses a B.V., registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) with no minimum capital.

• Corporate income tax (2026): 19 per cent on the first €200,000 of taxable profit and 25.8 per cent above, unchanged since 2023.
• Cost stack: €61,300 application fee, €50,000 financial security, gaming-system inspection and CDB build and conformity assessment, Dutch-language compliance documentation, then 37.8 per cent gambling tax and the 1.95 per cent levy on GGR once live.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Belastingdienst: corporate income tax rates · Ksa: costs and general requirements of an application

• 1 January 2026 — Gambling tax rose to 37.8 per cent of gross gaming revenue, the second step after the increase to 34.2 per cent on 1 January 2025.