Lawyers claimed human rights infringement
A change in the tax rate in the Netherlands back in 2008 caused undue harm to a slot machine operator, the Dutch Supreme Court has ruled. For that reason, the tax authorities have been ordered to pay €1.4 million (US$1.5 million) to the operator.
The court found that changing the tax from a general value-added tax to a flat 29 percent tax on slot revenue—a move that nearly doubled the tax rate on the machines—created an undue “individual and disproportionate” burden for the claimant, an operator who has been unnamed in news reports. The tax violated the principle of “fair balance” between the new tax regime, and the claimant, according to a news release.
The association of Dutch slot machine operators, VAN, is looking to see if the court’s verdict is applicable to other operators as well, according to Gaming Intelligence.
In the ruling, the court stated that the government “shall be held liable for rigorously introducing a Dutch gaming tax without properly informing and preparing Dutch gaming operators for the heavy tax burden they would be faced with.”
The gaming company unsuccessfully argued that the “unacceptable high tax burden” constituted a human rights abuse. Attorney Bas Jongmans said the tax was “in breach with the right to unobstructed enjoyment of property in accordance with the first protocol of the European Human Rights Treaty.
“We were, of course, disappointed when the Dutch Supreme Court did not follow this ruling,” he said.
