Dutch Online Poker Players Receive Millions In Tax Settlement

According to a new ruling in the Netherlands, hundreds of Dutch poker players will receive millions in paid taxes over the years.

A law dating back to 1964 said that its citizens had to pay tax on gambling winnings, as poker is considered gambling players who have won over the year have been paying tax to the country.

However in 2015 that law was contested and the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that those players playing on sites based and established in the EU were exempt to tax payments in the Netherlands.

But the Dutch tax agency argued that PokerStars is based in the Isle of Man and not in the EU, however the argument raged on as players played on the pokerstars.eu site which they say is based in Malta.

So the argument went on till now, some five years later where now all sides have given way there will now be an agreed payment to the main legal team representing some 130 poker players in the Netherlands and others that will be represented in the future to payments.

All refunds to players will be from the 2012 date the tax agency said.

It is estimated that the tax rebates will run into millions of Euros but will have a final cap to protect the state tax agency from continued legal cases for years to come.

There are some disagreements regarding the French skin of PokerStars there, it is a very complex case and other regions in the EU where Dutch players are taxed could come to legal issues, but it is hoped that the large majority of the cases will now be covered by the agreement by all sides in the Netherlands.