Following a judgment issued on December 31, a Dutch Court of Appeal ruled that the Dutch Tax Authority had no jurisdiction to claim tax on Dutch player's winnings from the popular online poker website PokerStars.eu. PokerStars.eu is a poker website operatored by the Maltese licensed company Rational Gaming Europe Limited.
EU Legislation on Online Poker Winnings
Under European Union legislation gambling winnings which are derived from EU member states are exempt from taxation. The Dutch tax authority had claimed that it could impose a tax of 29% on winnings of players of PokerStars as it was claiming that the parent company was based in the Isle of Man, and thus not within the EU and not subject to the tax exemption. However, the legal counsel of the players claimed that the website PokerStars.eu is not operated by the Isle of Man mother company but by the Malta-licensed company.
This reasoning was accepted by the Dutch Court of Appeal and therefore, the tax exemption should be applied to the winnings of Dutch players on PokerStars.eu.
Dutch Tax Authority ordered to pay in case on Online Poker Winnings
The Dutch tax authority was ordered to pay €4,233 in court costs and has a period of six weeks in which to appeal the decision to the Dutch Supreme Court. If no appeal is filed the Dutch tax authority would be obliged to issue tax refunds to all those players who had already paid the undue tax.
The Netherlands are currently in the process of regulating online gambling in a more accessible manner through the possibility of licensing. The Remore Gaming Bill is to be discussed in the Dutch senate early next month.
