Dutch winner of German lotto owes Dutch gambling tax (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden): Status, Rulings and What It Means for Players

What this case is about

Hoge Raad 17/01386 (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:3130) is a cassation ruling of the Dutch Supreme Court, the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden, dated 15 December 2017. A Dutch resident who won a prize in a German lottery appealed a Dutch gambling-tax assessment against the Staatssecretaris van Financiën (the Dutch state secretary for finance).

The winner relied on EU free movement, arguing that Dutch tax on a foreign lottery prize was unlawful. The claims concern the Wet op de kansspelbelasting (the Dutch gambling-tax act) as applied to foreign lottery winnings. The case belongs to Gambling Tax Litigation, which tracks tax disputes between operators, players and the courts.

Who is covered

This is an individual case, not a class action. The prize was a Westdeutsche Lotterie jackpot of EUR 3,501,699.60, won on 28 April 2012 and shared with three others.

The ruling applies to Dutch residents who win in foreign lotteries. Other Dutch cases are collected under Gambling Lawsuits in the Netherlands.

Is there a payout?

No payout exists in this case. The money in the record is a tax assessment payable by the winner, not a fund paid to players.

The kansspelbelasting assessment (naheffingsaanslag) was EUR 1,015,492 on the prize of EUR 3,501,699.60. The court upheld it, so the amount stays owed.

What the court decided

The Hoge Raad ruled on 15 December 2017, so the case is decided as of 14 November 2026. It dismissed the cassation appeal as unfounded (ongegrond).

The court confirmed that a Dutch resident's winnings from the German Lotto are subject to Dutch kansspelbelasting. It rejected the EU-law objections raised by the winner.

The assessment of EUR 1,015,492 was therefore upheld. The court's published text is the primary source.

Why it matters

The case answers a question that arises whenever a resident wins abroad: which country's gambling tax applies. Here the Dutch court held that Dutch tax applies to a Dutch resident's foreign prize, and that EU free movement did not change that result.

For how tax treats money from gambling claims, see Are Gambling Settlement Payments Taxable, which gathers IRS, ATO, HMRC and BFH references.

Questions people ask

Do Dutch residents owe tax on foreign lottery wins?

According to this ruling, yes. The Hoge Raad confirmed on 15 December 2017 that a Dutch resident's German Lotto winnings are subject to Dutch kansspelbelasting.

How much tax was assessed?

The naheffingsaanslag was EUR 1,015,492 on a prize of EUR 3,501,699.60. The prize was won on 28 April 2012 and shared with three others.

Did the EU free-movement argument work?

No. The Hoge Raad rejected the EU-law objections and dismissed the cassation appeal.