Netherlands online gambling licence: requirements, fees, timing and register check

Quick facts

What does a Dutch licence cover, and what does it not?

The Remote Gambling Act amended the Betting and Gaming Act and opened the Dutch online market on 1 October 2021. A Ksa licence is a market licence: it is what an operator needs to offer remote gambling to players in the Netherlands, and it gives no rights in other countries.

The Ksa licenses operators only. It does not grant licences to B2B companies such as software developers; instead the licensee's game system must be inspected by a designated testing body, and the licensee answers for its suppliers (Ksa Q&A). The first licences, granted from October 2021, expired in September 2026; the Ksa granted the first eight renewals on 17 September 2026, valid to September 2031 (Ksa).

Which games does the licence cover?

One licence, covering any of the following that the operator applies for (Remote Gambling Decree, art. 2.1):

• casino games played against the licensee;
• casino games played between players, such as poker;
• bets on sports events;
• bets on horse races.

Remote lotteries are outside this licence.

What does a Dutch licence cost in regulator fees?

• Application: €61,300 from 1 April 2026, up from €48,000 (Staatscourant 2026, 1642). It is not refunded if the licence is refused or the application is not processed (Ksa).
• No annual licence fee. The Ksa is funded by the gambling levy (kansspelheffing): 1.95% of gross gaming result, of which 0.25% goes to addiction prevention and 1.7% to the Ksa, declared annually (Ksa; Betting and Gaming Act, art. 33f).
• Horse-race bets. On bets on Dutch trotting and horse races the licensee also withholds 10% of the gross gaming result each month and pays it to a body designated by the minister (Remote Gambling Regulation, art. 2.2).

How is remote gambling taxed in the Netherlands?

Gambling tax (kansspelbelasting) is 37.8% of gross gaming result from 1 January 2026, after 34.2% in 2025 and 30.5% in 2024 (Gambling Tax Act, art. 5). The licensee pays it on top of the 1.95% levy, so tax and levy together take 39.75% of gross gaming result before corporate tax (our arithmetic).

How long does a Dutch licence take?

The Ksa must decide within six months of receiving the application and may extend that once by up to six months (Remote Gambling Decree, art. 2.4). The clock stops while the applicant completes a file the Ksa has found incomplete.

What company, location and capital does the Netherlands require?

• EU or EEA establishment. The licensee needs its registered seat, head office or main establishment in an EU or EEA state. The Act allows an exemption, but the Ksa says it grants none, so a company established only in Great Britain or another third country cannot apply (Ksa Q&A).
• Systems. Electronic systems sit in the EU or EEA state where the licensee is established, except the control database, which must be in the Netherlands (Remote Gambling Decree, art. 4.42).
• No minimum capital, but security. Applicants lodge financial security of €50,000 at licensing as a bank guarantee, deposit or surety (Ksa licensing policy rules 2026, art. 8.1).
• New in 2026. The same policy rules require an exit plan for the end of the licence and an anti-money-laundering risk analysis with the application.

Which rules catch operators most often?

• Past offers to Dutch players count. A leniency arrangement ended on 1 April 2022; since then involvement in illegal offers to Dutch players up to eight years back weighs heavily in the integrity assessment (Ksa integrity requirements).
• Cruks. The licensee must check the central exclusion register Cruks for every player and may not admit anyone registered in it; a working, tested connection is a condition of the licence (Ksa).
• Advertising. Online advertising is allowed only where the operator shows, with the best available techniques, that at least 95% of the people reached were 24 or older (Besluit werving, reclame en verslavingspreventie, art. 2ab).
• Deposit thresholds. A player aged 18 to 24 who sets a deposit limit of €150 a month or more must first be contacted by the operator; a higher threshold applies to older players (Remote Gambling Regulation).
• Proposals, not law yet. In June 2026 the government announced a full ban on online gambling advertising including bonuses, an overall deposit limit with an affordability test and longer voluntary Cruks registration (Kamerstuk 24557, nr. 282). None of it was in force when we checked.

How do you verify a Dutch licence?

1. Search the Ksa's Kansspelwijzer for the company, brand or website.
2. Check the licence type (online games of chance), the licence number and the validity dates: licences granted in 2021 expired in September 2026 unless renewed.
3. Compare the website or app with the brands, websites and apps listed for that licensee.
4. Remember what the register cannot tell you: whether the same company may serve players outside the Netherlands.

How does the Netherlands compare with other licences?

What this page does not cover yet

The full duty-of-care rules, technical and reporting requirements for the control database, AML duties, the player-funds arrangement and sports sponsorship rules. They are added after review.

Sources

• Wet op de kansspelen, Besluit kansspelen op afstand and Regeling kansspelen op afstand: licence, games, term, decision period, systems, levy, read 27 October 2026.
• Staatscourant 2026, 1642: application fee from 1 April 2026, read 27 October 2026.
• Wet op de kansspelbelasting: 37.8% from 1 January 2026, read 27 October 2026.
• Besluit werving, reclame en verslavingspreventie kansspelen and Beleidsregels vergunningverlening kansspelen op afstand 2026, read 27 October 2026.
• Kansspelautoriteit: licence Q&A, application cost, gambling levy, integrity requirements, Cruks, first renewals, read 27 October 2026.
• Kamerstuk 24557, nr. 282: policy plans of June 2026, read 27 October 2026.
• Kansspelwijzer, read 27 October 2026.

Next review: monthly, and when the advertising and deposit-limit proposals reach consultation. Found an error? Report a correction.